Melbourne's most popular international tourist attraction is set to become more accessible for Chinese visitors.
Fairfax media reported on Friday that the Queen Victoria Market, known as Melbourne's mecca for fresh-food and shopping, plans to introduce "subtle" Chinese signage around the market to help non- English speaking tourists navigate the huge 750-shop expanse.
Recently, the market also employed a Mandarin-speaking staff member in its customer service department.
Data from Melbourne City Council, published by Fairfax on Friday, outlined the Victorian capital's top attractions for overseas tourists with the Queen Victoria Market edging out Federation Square for the title.
The figures showed more than one in every two international explorers to Melbourne, or 51.8 percent, took the time to visit the shopping paradise.
Chief executive of the market, Jan Cochrane-Harry, said the destination drew travellers because it offered a unique cultural experience.
"Tourists like to visit markets that are local markets. To your detriment you would change that," she said.
Since 2005, each year international visitors to Melbourne have grown at a rate of 3.7 percent, according to the data.
Last year, an estimated 1.35 million people travelled across the globe to visit the centre of Melbourne, which in terms of population ranks as the second-largest city in Australia behind Sydney.
Other attractions that made the list were: The Bourke Street Mall (30.9 percent of international visitors), St Kilda (28.1 percent) and Crown Casino (25.2 percent).
Despite Melbourne's claim of being the world's sporting capital, its major sporting complex, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, only attracted 7.9 percent of travellers.
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