22 Jul 2014
Words Carla Cook

Aussies on holiday - Who travels where, and why?

There was a time when the archetypal Aussie holidaymaker was someone in shorts and thongs, heading for the nearest beach. Or a family on the road, eyes peeled for a likely motel or caravan park.

These days, they’re just as likely to be on a plane, bound for a week of city restaurant and gallery hopping or, heaven forbid, ‘relaxing and rejuvenating’ in some overseas spa resort.

With such big dollars at stake, it is vital to track Australians’ travel behavior. That job, providing the tourism intelligence to equip us with information that strengthens our marketing and business decisions, primarily falls to Tourism Research Australia (TRA).

The holiday economy

TRA’s latest National Visitor Survey showed travellers spent $51.5 billion on domestic overnight travel in the year ending December 2013, an increase of 3% on the previous year.

Holidaymakers were responsible for more than half of that outlay, spending $26.4 billion, 4% more than they did the year before. Almost all of the rest came out of the pockets of people travelling to visit friends and family or on business.

Holiday was by far the main reason travellers stayed somewhere overnight in 2013, accounting for 47% of all recorded visitor nights. Seeing friends and relatives was the purpose of 32% of nights, and 15% business nights.

The National Visitor Survey also highlighted just how important tourism is to regional Australia, with $26.2 billion (51%) spent on domestic overnight travel to areas outside capital cities.

During 2013, domestic travellers went on 75.8 million overnight trips. Most trips (almost 70%) were made within the traveller’s home state. There was solid growth in interstate trips (up 3%), but there is also a trend for interstate trips to be shorter than they once were.

So where do most of us go when we head off to holiday, visit or do business in Australia?

Destination decisions

The majority of domestic overnight travel last year was concentrated in New South Wales (30% market share), Queensland (26%), and Victoria (19.5%). Combined, these states accounted for just over three-quarters of the 283 million visitor nights recorded nationally.

NSW actually tops the tables on every measure – attracting the most overnight trips, claiming the highest number of visitor nights and, consequently, the biggest dollar share.

Interestingly, while Victoria notched up more overnight trips (18.3 million) than Queensland (17.5 million), the Sunshine State outstripped its southern rival on both visitor nights and expenditure. Queensland visitors obviously tend to stay longer, so spend more.

Delving deeper into the visitor data, we were able to build a ‘Top 10 Aussie Destinations’ list, based on which locations attracted the biggest share of visitor nights in 2013. (See Table A)

Given NSW’s dominance, it’s not surprising to find the emblematic city of Sydney is Australia’s No.1 destination. NSW recorded more than 85 million domestic visitor nights in 2013, and 26% of them were spent in Sydney.

Melbourne’s increasing popularity as a cultural hub sees it come in at No.2, and vibrant Brisbane rounds out the top three. Then it’s the turn of the beaches, with coastal destinations occupying the next three spots on the ladder.

WA’s capital comes in at No.7, beating Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and tropical north, while Adelaide sneaks in at No.10. Although Tassie is considered by many to be a rising drawcard, the whole state scores fewer visitor nights than the city of Adelaide on its own.

Getting to getaways

The increasing availability of cheaper airfares means more Australians are now flying to their domestic holiday destinations, recent Roy Morgan Research has shown. “Although the majority of Australians still drive to local holiday destinations, more of us are choosing to forget driving altogether and just fly,” they said.

In the year to February 2014, 13% of domestic travellers ‘just flew’, up from 7% in 2002. Another 18% flew and drove, for a total of 31% of domestic travellers catching a plane on their domestic trip – up from 18% 12 years ago. 56% of Australians ‘only drove’ to their destination, down from 65% in February 2002.

Once Aussies get where they’re going, the most pertinent question for most of our readers would be ‘where do they stay?’

The good news is, according to TRA’s 2013 survey, the vast majority stays in commercial accommodation. More than half of all visitor nights were attributed to hotels, motels, resorts, caravan and camping parks, or rented houses and units. Friends and family hosted 37.9% of all visitor nights.

Also very encouraging is that data collected by various researchers confirms Aussies who had curtailed their leisure spend in the wake of the GFC are on the move again. Since hitting a low of 262 million domestic visitor nights in 2009, the 2013 figure represents a 7.8% improvement. In the 12 months to September 2013, Roy Morgan Research says 59% of Australians (aged 14+) took a domestic holiday.

Who’s who

But, all this research just gives you the numbers. What you really need to help make marketing decisions is more information about your potential customers. And tools are available to build very detailed profiles of who’s going where and what they want to do when they get there.

Roy Morgan’s Helix Personas profiling tool is one, categorising travellers into a number of ‘communities’, given catchy names like ‘Leading Lifestyles’ (high income families), ‘Metrotechs’ (young, single, well-educated professionals), and ‘Golden Years’ (conservative, risk-averse retirees).

There are quite a few others, but you get the picture. Then, within each ‘community’, they identify distinct ‘personas’. People in the ‘Leading Lifestyles’ community, for example, might be ‘bluechips’, ‘humanitarians’, ‘self starters’, or some other market segment.

Such forensic analysis of people’s preferences and behavior, when married with tourism market data, reveals all sorts of interesting travel trends.

For example, high-flying ‘bluechips’ love fine wine and dining so, in the year ended September 2013, 25% of them named the Hunter Valley as a preferred destination. Cultural centres Melbourne (30%) and Sydney (24%) appeal to well-educated and socially aware ‘successful bureaucrats’ who, it seems, are also quite partial to beach breaks.

Studying which profile best fits with your location, facilities and service may help to pinpoint precisely who your existing and potential markets are, and even throw up ideas for expanding your appeal to new market segments.

Outbound Aussies

Of course Australians don’t only holiday at home. International travel has become increasingly accessible and attractive. TRA tells us outbound travel continues to thrive, up 6% to 7.6 million trips by Australians during the year ending September 2013.

Most (4.5 million) trips were for holiday and leisure, while 3.2 million were to visit family and friends or do business.

Roy Morgan Research says 23% of the Australian population took an overseas holiday in the year to November 2013, with globetrotting Gen Ys (27%) and Baby Boomers (26%) leading the charge to foreign shores.

So, where do Aussies go when we’re not holidaying at home? Naturally, destinations vary depending on the age group of travellers. But, interestingly, one country seems to bridge the generation gap, topping the list as the most visited destination for all age groups.

And that country is …. New Zealand. “With its proximity to Australia, abundance of world-class natural attractions and relative affordability, New Zealand’s status as the most visited overseas destination for Aussies of all generations is no surprise,” said Jane Ianiello, International Director of Tourism, Travel and Leisure for Roy Morgan Research.

New Zealand drew more than a million visitors from Australia (Sept 2012-13), claiming 13.4% of our outbound market, followed by USA with 11.1% and Indonesia with 10.5%. See Table B for the full ‘Top 10’ overseas destinations list.

All in all, Australians spent 86.8 million visitor nights overseas on holidays and leisure last year, on which they forked out more than $30 billion.

No place like home

No wonder our peak tourism marketing bodies and all industry operators work hard to convince us to holiday at home. And, why wouldn’t we? With the world’s oldest surviving rainforests, ancient indigenous landmarks, cultural wealth, and endless miles of postcard perfect coastline, Australia is a holidaymaker’s dream.

It’s pleasing to see the Roy Morgan Research Holiday Tracking Survey for January 2014 showed more Aussies are planning to take their next holiday right here.

Overall holiday intentions were up, with 70% (13.5 million people) intending to take a holiday in the next 12 months. And, while 10% intend to head overseas, 56% (10.9 million people) plan to make for a domestic location.

Let’s hope plenty of them are headed your way!