Australians Spend $58.2 Billion on Domestic Travel in 2007

[Kurt A]

Australians Spend $58.2 Billion on Domestic Travel in 2007
March 18

A report released last Friday showed Australians spent $58.2 billion on domestic trips in 2007, an increase of seven percent on 2006.

Tourism Australia Managing director Geoff Buckley said the results, from the latest Travel By Australians report, highlighted the vital contribution of domestic travel to the Australian tourism industry.

“During 2007 there was a significant increase in spending by Australians on domestic travel- $3.6 billion more than in 2006, despite slower growth in the number of domestic trips,” Mr Buckley said.

“Australians took 73.8 million overnight domestic trips in 2007, which was largely unchanged from 2006. Australians however spent more nights away from home up to 288.6 million nights for the year, which was 2.9 million more nights than in 2006.”
“While the spend figures are pleasing we are seeing some worrying fundamental shifts in holiday patterns that are starting to impact on who, where and how many Australians are now holidaying in Australia.

“For example, we are seeing baby boomers that grew up with the annual Australian summer beach holiday continuing to explore the country in growing numbers. The experience though is different for the younger generation – 20-29 years who are less familiar with domestic holidays, and we are now seeing this generation is more likely to take their holidays overseas rather than travel in Australia,” Mr Buckley said.

Sydney was the most visited destination for over night domestic visitors in 2007 with 7.3 million visitors, down from 7.8 million in 2006. Melbourne and Brisbane followed closely behind as popular domestic overnight stays with 6.4 million and 4.8 million visitors respectively.

In terms of traveller spending, the destinations to benefit most from domestic overnight trips in 2007 included: Sydney ($3.4 billion” and Melbourne ($3.3 billion).

Mr Buckley said there were indications that domestic travel began to slow in the December 2007 quarter, reflecting strong competition from overseas destinations and rising petrol prices.

“The favourable conditions for outbound travel towards the end of 2007 resulted in more Australians opting to travel to destinations overseas at the expense of Australian holidays.”

“ While these challenges are expected to impact on domestic travel in 2008, further expansion of air services during the year is likely to result in Australians taking more over night trips but taking shorter breaks”
“The other challenge for the Australian tourism industry is the shift in the travel habits of the younger generations and how we get them to take more Australian holidays in the future,” Mr Buckley said.

- News Article