Australians are more than just crushing on Aussie footballer Jarryd Hayne, they’re following him from his old stomping grounds in Western Sydney to San Francisco.
According to Skyscanner figures, flight searches to The Golden Gate City spiked drastically earlier this month when the former Eels player made his NFL 49ers’ debut.
Overall Aussie searches to San Francisco jumped 38.7 percent in the lead up to his first big game against the Minnesota Vikings compared to the same period last year.
Sydneysiders (I’m guessing mostly from Parramatta) were most keen to see him play internationally, with 52.6 percent more flight searches from Sydney travellers year-on-year. While Melbourne searches jumped 42 percent for travel between 2 – 12 September 2015.
First game at home n got the W ! Feeling the love from down under. #49ers #australia #fiji #ctown #2566 LOVE ✌?️
Posted by Jarryd Hayne on Sunday, August 23, 2015
Speaking to KarryOn, Skyscanner’s Senior Marketing Manager Alana Saphin-Polchleb said sport is a powerful driver of tourism, particularly amongst Aussie travellers.
Meanwhile, earlier this year the online booking site also revealed a list of incredible travel destinations Aussies aren’t yet visiting.
Among them was Greece’s south-western island of Akrotiri, which is home to an ancient settlement and features unbridled views of caldera and volcano.
There’s also Walla Walla in Washington, which was the second least searched cities by Aussies, followed by Hammerfest in Norway and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.