Tourism plays a significant role in the Australian economy, contributing 3.2 per cent of its GDP and 4.9 per cent of employment, as stated by Austrade.
According to Roy Morgan, Australians are taking less trips on average, but the total number of trips as a nation is on the increase.
In 2000-01, 10.7 million Australians each year had at least one holiday, including 10.3 million who took domestic holidays.
Today, around 13.7 million Australians take at least one annual holiday, including 12.6 million taking a trip to Australia. This represents an increase of 3 million Australians, which offsets a smaller proportion of Australians taking a trip.
Roy Morgan CEO Michelle Levine believes the average Australian took 4.1 trips in 2019 compared with 4.6 trips two decades ago.
“Australia’s strong population growth over the last two decades is the single biggest factor driving the growth in travel. Australia’s population during the last two decades has grown from 15.5 million Australians aged 14+ in 2000 to 20.6 million today, an increase of 5.1 million,” said Ms Levine.
“Although overseas holidays are increasing in popularity, in 2019 the average length of an overseas holiday has dropped to just over three weeks, or 21.6 days. This is a significant decline from the average length of overseas holidays taken by Australians in the early 2000s, which clocked in at just over a month long, or 31.9 days,” continued Ms Levine.
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