The visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Australia in April cost the taxpayer $474,137, newly released figures show.

Much of this bill – $251,338 – was taken up by transport, with the RAAF flying the royal couple to Australia from New Zealand and then taking them to engagements across Australia, including Brisbane, Adelaide and Uluru.

A further $73,638 was spent on Prince William and Catherine’s “domestic travel”, which included meals and accommodation.

Media liaison cost $85,366 while hospitality amounted to $59,486. The rest was made up of “miscellaneous visit costs”. Security costs, which would have been significant, are not included in the figures, which were released under freedom of information.

The highly stage-managed tour, which included intense media interest in Catherine’s clothing and sightings of the couple’s baby, Prince George, has been hailed by Australian monarchists as helping bolster support for the royals in the country.

The tourism industry was also pleased with the trip, with analysts predicting that a further $50-60m will be spent by tourists who saw the royal couple visit sites such as the Sydney Opera House, Blue Mountains and Uluru.

The cost of the trip, which spanned two weeks, was less than forecast prior to the couple’s arrival with George.

It is also less than the $2.6m the taxpayer paid to host the Queen and Prince Philip in 2011, according to the Australian. In 2010, the federal and New South Wales governments spent more than $3m financing the visit of US TV host Oprah Winfrey to Australia.