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AHEAD OF THE GAME: 5 things to know about the 2019 traveller

Travel-mad Zoe Macfarlane shares her life on the road as a digital nomad, this week she chats with a new online travel player delving deep into the workings of the 2019 traveller.

Travel-mad Zoe Macfarlane shares her life on the road as a digital nomad, this week she chats with a new online travel player delving deep into the workings of the 2019 traveller.

If you’ve been wondering what trends have been unfolding in the Aussie tourism market lately then listen up. We’ve got the skinny from newbies Klook on how the average Australian traveller is planning their upcoming travels.

 

1. Activities Come First

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Gone are the days of planning your travels by flight first; it’s all about the experiences now. The influx of low-cost airlines and abundant flight routes, allow holidaymakers to focus their attention on what they’re doing, even before the where.

Forget booking the flight to Phuket and then deciding what the days will be filled with! The trend now shows 3 out of 5 travellers are booking their experiences first. It’s predicted that $183 billion will be spent on travel activities by 2020. Whoa.

 

2. Seasonal Trips Are Where It’s At

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Listening to Ariana Grande from the Coachella Ferris wheel? Heading to Japan’s perfect powder? Jetting to Germany for Oktoberfest? Getting your teeth fixed in Thailand?

Fifty percent of travellers surveyed reported their trips were built around an event or occasion. Experiential travel is leading where holidaymakers go – showing it’s important to understand what’s hot and what’s not, around the globe.

 

3. Impulsiveness is in

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Not every facet of a trip is planned to the max. In fact, data shows that many tourists are opening their hotel curtains, coping an eye full of the weather, then booking in their activity to match. Not only that, 50% are doing so from their mobile, both when planning and from overseas.

Remember when hotels used to charge for the Wi-Fi? Relief overwhelms us that those days are over because without a high-speed hookup, there’d be no spontaneity, and we love living in the now at KARRYON.

 

4. Dollar, Dollar Bills Y’all

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Australians spent a whopping $137 billion on leisure and entertainment last year. While it’s not all travel-related, even proportionally, that means ka-ching tourism industry.

What does go to travel then? $77 per week! That’s more than we spend on healthcare, our mobiles, and coffees combined. We’ve always known that Australians love to travel more than smashed avo on sourdough, but’s no one minds the stats to back that theory up.

 

5. Many Times in a Lifetime

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Image: Sydney Seaplane Adventures

At the Sydney Seaplane office, they have a map on the wall of their old Kangaroo Route. Once a 10-day, 30-stop trip from Sydney to London, the trip was equal to the average annual salary. Like the polio vaccine, mobile phones, and the Dyson vacuum, affordable global accessibility has improved our lives.

In 2018, reports showed 85% of Aussies went overseas at least once! From that $77 saved weekly, most is going on a vacation where the liquids have to go into a separate bag.

 

Have you noticed these trends firsthand?