Good news for the travel industry: A new Skyscanner global survey says travellers will spend big and travel more in 2025. And Aussies are some of the keenest beans with 43 per cent indicating they will spend more or the same on trips in 2025 as this year.
The Skyscanner Horizons 2025 Report highlights where the travel landscape is going next year – and where savvy travel advisors and partners can leverage these trends and insights.
More spend on flights & insurance
More than one-third (36%) of Australian travellers have budgeted to spend more on overseas flights next year compared to 2024, while 32 per cent will spend the same.
For flight upgrades, Aussies are willing to spend more on travel insurance (50%), seat selection (42%), better-quality inflight food (25%) and extra baggage (25%).
Ancillaries such as airport lounge access (19%), more inflight entertainment (18%) and flight upgrades (15%) were less desirable among the Australians surveyed.
Comfort is key for hotel stays
Almost one-third (31%) of Aussies will spend more on overseas accommodation in 2025 with 36 per cent spending the same amount as this year.
Just over one in four Aussies (27%) will pay to upgrade their room and 23 per cent will upgrade their hotel or resort for extra comfort.
Overtourism & impact
Travellers are also seeking lesser-known destinations with more than one in four (27%) APAC respondents expressing intentions to avoid overtourism.
Among Aussies, 22 per cent of respondents indicated they would look to visit less touristy areas and have a positive impact on local communities in 2025.
There are a few barriers when it comes to travellers choosing lesser-known destinations. Safety concerns (54%), understanding where to go (37%) and having confidence there would be enough to do (30%) are the top three concerns for Aussies considering less-touristy areas.
This finding indicates an opportunity for tour operators to address these concerns and demonstrate the positive benefits of guided experiences in off-the-beaten-track destinations.
Travel inspo on the go
And when it comes to travel inspo, more than half of Aussies rely on word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends (53%), followed by social media (52%), film and TV aka set-jetting (36%) and online media (34%), showing that reccs and visual cues are still key.
Outside of costs, food is the biggest decision-making factor when global travellers are choosing a destination, followed by the weather, natural landscape, attractions and culture.
Read the full global report here.
