Australian international travellers are still choosing to play and work closer to home, with East Asian nations and New Zealand the fastest-growing destinations in October.
In its latest monthly analysis of Aussie outbound travel, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found that short-term (defined as less than one year) visitation to Japan grew by nearly 20% in October year-on-year, with 102,220 Aussies returning from the country during the month. This compares to 86,080 returns in 2024.
Elsewhere, Vietnam saw around 15% more Australian visitors, with 47,870 Aussies returning from short-term trips in October. Closer to home, New Zealand travel rose by more than 10%, with 125,980 residents arriving home during the month.
However, the biggest yearly mover was Singapore, which saw a more than 50% rise in Australian visitation y-o-y. But this may have been partly due to the Singapore F1 Grand Prix, which was moved from September to October in 2025.
Elsewhere, China continued its comeback with a nearly 10% rise, while Indonesia – the most visited country overall, thanks to hotspot Bali – grew by around 5% y-o-y.
Australians’ favourite European destination, Italy, also saw a small increase in visitor numbers, to 58,310.
Meanwhile, Thailand experienced a slight decrease in Australian visitation, while the UK and the US saw the largest drops, with declines of 4.6% and 4.9%, respectively. Despite the drop in y-o-y visitation, the US at least saw around 15,000 more visitors compared to September 2025.
Double-digit rise
Overall, short-term Aussie resident returns grew by 93,340 in October, a healthy 7.9% y-o-y increase to 1,278,230.
This was also a massive 11.5% higher than October 2019. By comparison, in September, these increases were just 2.9% and 5.8% respectively.
When it comes to the most popular destinations overall, shorter-haul spots continue to reign supreme, with Indonesia leading the way, accounting for nearly one in seven (13.9%) of all resident returns (177,050 trips).
Following Indonesia, New Zealand, Japan, the US and the UK were the next most popular destinations.
China, Italy, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore rounded out the top 10 hottest spots.
When it comes to inbound travel, short-term visitor arrivals grew by nearly 10 per cent (9.3%) in October to 740,650, which is positive news for Australian tourism.
The ABS stats reflect total border movements rather than unique visitor numbers.
To see how we travelled in earlier in the year, read our report here.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Aussies are leaning into close-to-home escapes, with Japan, Vietnam, NZ and Singapore powering October’s outbound growth. Bali still rules, while long-haul faves like the US and UK have softened. Overall returns jumped nearly 8%, signalling strong demand – and big opportunities – for agents selling short-haul, experience-rich travel.
