The high Australian dollar is no barrier against Australian tourism, an annual survey by leading global payments company MasterCard Worldwide released on Monday shows.

The latest MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Priorities found the proportion of those surveyed contemplating a visit to Australia remained at similar levels to the previous year 's survey.

The survey found 19 percent of respondents said they would consider Australia as a travel destination within the next six months, down only one percentage point from previous year.

Since trading at about 83 U.S. cents at the start of July, the Australian dollar has surged through parity with the U.S dollar and touched levels not seen since the currency was floated in December 1983.

MasterCard Australia country manager Andrew Cartwright said the survey was welcome news for local tourism operators.

He said the Australian tourism industry should take heart that despite this increase in the local currency, Australia remains a popular tourism destination for holidaymakers in 2011.

The survey found 34 percent of Australians intended to buy international air travel in the next 12 months, up just one percentage point from the prior survey.

MasterCard said the survey canvassed the views of 6,481 consumers from 14 countries across the Asia-Pacific region between Sept. 13 and Nov. 11, 2010.

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