It’s official — Aussies love travelling in their home country!
Holidays within Australia became the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic due to international border closures, but it seems that the trend has stuck.
Budget Direct surveyed over 1,000 Australians over 18 years of age to find out the domestic travel habits and to unveil the secrets that keep us holidaying at home.
Quick Stats
60% of respondents who had holidayed in the past 12 months did so domestically.
Capitalising on nearby travel options has meant 51% of respondents holidayed for one to two weeks, with 26% making the most of a long or standard weekend to get away.
Couples were mostly out and about together holidaying in the past 12 months, representing 51% of travellers.
Australians are still savvy holiday planners with 70% saving for their holiday, rather than holidaying on credit.
70% of those surveyed also stuck to, or came in under their budget.
Aussies Much Prefer Companionship When Holidaying
Who did you travel with on your most recent holiday?*
*Respondents were able to select more than one response, values may not add up to 100%.
As for who we holiday with, holidaying alone rather than with strangers or a tour group is much more preferred!
Almost 15% of those surveyed travel alone and 1% travel with strangers or a tour guide.
Couples were mostly out and about together holidaying in the past 12 months, representing 51% of travellers.
Friends represented 17% of travelling companions.
Domestic Travel Takes the Cake
Where did you travel on your most recent holiday?
It seems Australians have become comfortable with holidaying at home, with 60% of respondents of the survey who had holidayed in the past 12 months had done so domestically.
The other 40% had travelled internationally for their last holiday.
Those living in South Australia had booked the most domestic holidays within the last 12 months (74%) with Queenslanders coming in next at 67%.
Western Australians holidayed the least domestically (46%) out of the states; however, they travelled the most internationally (55%).
How long was your most recent holiday?
Short-term holidays seems to be the go-to holiday length for Aussies with more than half of those surveyed saying they holidayed for one-to-two weeks for their most recent holiday (51%).
Weekend getaways came in as the next most popular holiday length (26%), with three-to-four weeks at 14%.
Only 9% had a recent holiday that was more than a month long.
When it came to which state took the most weekend or long weekend holidays, New South Wales came in first at 30%, and South Australia took the most one-to-two-week holidays with 58%.
Victorians took the most three-to-four week holidays and Western Australians took the most longer holidays with 15% taking more than a month.
It seems age makes little difference when it comes to short-term holidays with Australians aged 18-75 showing similar frequency of local breaks.
The age group taking the most weekend breaks was the 38–47-year-old group, with 30% taking weekend holidays.
The lowest was the 68–75-year-old group, with 20% taking weekend breaks in the past 12 months.
For holidays of one-to-two weeks, the age group varied little with 53% of 18–27-year-olds and the 48-57-year-old groups holidaying for one-to-two weeks in the past 12 months.
For longer holidays of more than a month long, the 68-75-year-old group took the most with 15%.
Australians are Savvy Holiday Savers
How long did you have to save in preparation for your most recent holiday?
While mostly taking local holidays, Australians are still savvy holiday planners with 70% saving for their trip.
Of this group, the most respondents took between 1-3 months to save (22%), with 18% saving for 3-6 months.
Coming in at almost the same, respondents took either less than a month or 6-12 months to save for their most recent holiday (12% and 11% respectively).
Only 30% of survey respondents said they didn’t have to save any money.
Did you have a budget for your most recent holiday?
Just over 40% of Aussies surveyed said they had a budget for their most recent holiday, with 30% saying they partially had one and 29% saying no.
Western Australians seem to be the most budget-savvy state, with 48% saying that they had a budget for their most recent trip. Queenslanders were next up at 44%.
South Australia came in last at 33% and also topped the states for having no budget at all (35%).
A third of Victorians said they partially had a budget for their most recent holiday.
Did you stick to your budget on your most recent holiday?
Whilst on their most recent holiday, 70% of survey respondents stuck to, or came in under, their budget.
Only a third of Aussies surveyed went over budget.
Most states stuck to their budget with 58% to 63% across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia closely in the mix.
Victorians had the lowest percentage at 57%.
Queenslanders took the cake for the state going over budget at 35%.
Victorians and South Australians tied for staying under budget (13%).
Surprisingly, Aussies stick to their budgets more with domestic holidays than with international holidays with 73% sticking to budget or going under when going on domestic holidays, compared to only 66% of Aussies surveyed sticking or coming under budget with their international holidays.
Destination Matters
Where did you spend the most money on your most recent holiday?
Most of the survey respondents’ budgets were dedicated to accommodation, flights and travel with 40% dedicated to accommodation and 30% dedicated to flights and travel.
Budgets were then dedicated to food and drink at 15%, followed by activities and entertainment at 11%.
Aussie survey respondents were not focused on spending big with souvenirs and shopping (3%).
Those surveyed in the age group 18-27 spent most of their budget on accommodation and flights and travel (32% and 31%).
This age group also spent more on activities and entertainment and purchasing souvenirs and shopping than any other age group surveyed (17% and 4%).
Those aged 68-75 spent the most on food and drink at 19%, with the age group 48-57 next in line at 17%.
For those who travelled internationally for their most recent holiday, almost half of respondents spent most of their budget on flights and travel (47%) as opposed to those who travelled domestically, who spent the most on accommodation (49%).
