Trends, trends, trends – they can be tricky to keep up with in travel but once you’ve got a handle on them, they can be used to make more sales and in turn, earn more money.
Flight Centre has taken most of the hard work out of tackling trends with the release of its first ‘Postcodes & Postcards: Australians on the move in the Golden Age of Travel‘ report.
Unveiled late last week, the report is based on data collected between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016 and covers all areas of Australian travel from when and where Australians are going, to which suburbs spend the most money and the length of the average break.
So here’s what Flight Centre found:
When it comes to booking a holiday, nothing is as big an influencer for Australians than events or anniversaries.
The group said normal booking patterns alter “when something really exciting happens” such as Golden Week in China, which contributed to a spike in bookings compared to other periods of the year.
Then there was Gallipoli, which experienced a large dip in Aussie interest during 2016, a year after welcoming record Aussie arrivals for the 2015 Centenary. This drop in ANZAC arrivals accompanied with safety concerns in Turkey resulted in a 53 percent decrease in Aussie visitors last year compared to the prior year.
FUN FACT: Australian travellers covered 10,295,368,054 kilometres in the past year – that’s more than 10.2 billion kilometres of flying, cruise boat lounging and holiday memories.
When looking at where Australians are travelling, the United States is a clear favourite for international travel, followed by the UK, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand then Italy.
Domestically, Aussies prefer to flock to Sydney before heading to Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.
FUN FACT: Australians went on holiday for an average 15 days last year.
Australian travellers with the deepest pockets appear to be those living in North Sydney, who were flagged as the biggest spenders on holidays, followed by those living in Brisbane City, Rouse Hill, Wangara, Campbelltown and Werribee.
People living in these same suburbs and areas were also the most travelled Australians last year.
FUN FACT: The number of 15-19 year old Australian travellers grew 40 percent in 2016.
Despite more last minute deals on offer, Aussies still prefer to book their holidays in advance, with the average lead booking time sitting at 56 days.
Click here to check out the full report.