A sector forecast to hit more than $1 trillion in value in under a decade, bleisure travel is growing at a rapid rate. It’s no different in Australia, where more and more travellers continue to mix business with leisure (hence the name).
But where have Aussie bleisure travellers been targeting the most this holiday season?
Flight Centre Travel Group’s flagship business travel division, Corporate Traveller, went about finding out, analysing air, car, rail and hotel bookings by its corporate customers to 35 of Australia’s major holiday hotspots from 15 December 2023 to 26 January 2024.
The company found that Brisbane has lured more bleisure travellers than both Melbourne and Sydney for the summer holiday period, with 20 per cent of all bookings – compared to 16 per cent and 15 per cent for the Victorian and NSW cities respectively.
By contrast, Melbourne was the most popular city over the same period last year, beating Sydney by seven per cent and Brisbane by three per cent in bookings.
Overall, Brisbane has experienced 20 per cent more bookings than Melbourne achieved last year.
“There are plenty of places to visit within a short drive from our capital cities, so it makes sense that many corporate travellers will base themselves in the city where their business, family and friends are likely to be, while still enjoying the spoils of nearby beaches and mountains in their downtime,” Corporate Traveller’s Australian-based Global Managing Director Tom Walley said.
“Brisbane has long held a reputation of being the more relaxed capital, like a big country town, but it has a burgeoning population and a growing number of restaurants, cafes and cultural offerings.
“This, along with its exceptional weather… has possibly steered more people toward Brisbane this holiday season.”
Led by the Queensland metropolis, capital cities are attracting significantly more bleisure bookings than Australia’s regional holiday hotspots, but this is unsurprising given most corporate travel takes in cities.
Among the regional destinations Corporate Traveller analysed, the NSW North Coast and the Queensland coast were the most popular among business travellers, making up 14 per cent of all bookings (including cities) over the holiday season.
When excluding cities, these areas together attracted 65 per cent of the regional holiday bookings analysed this summer.
The top NSW destination outside of Sydney is Newcastle, which has already attracted 124 per cent more bookings than Ballina, 92 per cent more than Coffs Harbour and 137 per cent more than Port Macquarie.
On the other side of the country, Broome in Western Australia is also booming.
