Aussies love to travel, and one thing that we can all agree on is that life always feels a bit more exciting when you've got a holiday booked in the future to look forward to.
If you're like us, you spent some of the holiday season planning your next getaway to deal with the return back to reality. It turns out that a lot of Australis were doing the same thing, as Webjet reported that bookings for domestic trips surged by 106 per cent in the week following Boxing Day.
The travel website has just revealed data on travel bookings made in the weeks following Christmas, and Melbourne is the number one destination for Australians looking to get away this summer. It makes total sense to us – summer in Melbourne is packed full of exciting things to do, including the highlight of our annual calendar, the Australian Open. Our city really thrives this time of year, and we love to see that everyone is keen to get in on the action.
Another trend that WebJet found from the data was a boom in last-minute holiday bookings, with Aussies seemingly spending their Christmas money on last-minute getaways. Of all the travel bookings made by Australians in the seven days following Boxing Day, 87 per cent were scheduled for January. The top travel destinations for the remainder of summer were Australia’s big cities, with Melbourne taking the top spot – with 19 per cent of flights booked heading to our city. Sydney ranked as the second-most popular destination for domestic travel in January, with 16 per cent of flights heading into the Harbour City. Further north, Brisbane came in at number three, and the Gold Coast was the fourth most popular domestic destination for Aussie travellers this January.
The most popular domestic destinations for Australian travellers for this summer are:
- Melbourne (19 per cent)
- Sydney (16 per cent)
- Brisbane (14 per cent)
- Gold Coast (10 per cent)
- Perth (8 per cent)
- Adelaide (6 per cent)
- Hobart (5 per cent)
- Cairns (4 per cent)
- Maroochydore (3 per cent)
- Launceston (2 per cent)
As well as releasing data on the top domestic destinations for Aussies this summer, Webjet revealed which overseas destinations we’re travelling to this summer – with international bookings jumping 31 per cent in the week after Christmas.
According to Webjet, the top international destinations for Aussie travellers this January are:
- Bali (17 per cent)
- Auckland (12 per cent)
- Tokyo (9 per cent)
- Queenstown (5 per cent)
- Christchurch (4 per cent)
- Bangkok (3 per cent)
- Manila (3 per cent)
- Los Angeles (3 per cent)
- Fiji (3 per cent)
- Wellington (3 per cent)
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