Aussie domestic travel up 70%

The Northern Territory Australia - May 18, 2011: The sun rises beyonds the magnificent sandstone monolith that is Uluru, illuminating the grass & scrub in the foreground.

By Daisy Doctor

You’d be forgiven for not realising Australia is roughly the size of America.

And, with size, comes great responsibility, of Aussies, to travel their own country.

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So, it’s with great happiness we present to you this great study from Roy Morgan, which found a major increase in domestic travel.

According to the survey, in the last 12 months the proportion of Australians planning to take a holiday has increased to 70 per cent.

This recent increase appears to have been driven primarily by an uptick in domestic holiday intention and steady overseas travel.

In the October-December 2016 quarter, 68 per cent of the population had a holiday in the pipeline, with 52 per cent reporting that they were planning an Aussie holiday in the coming 12 months.

As of the October-December 2017 quarter, total holiday intention increased to 70 per cent (up 583,000 people), and domestic intention increased to 54 per cent (up 570,000 people).

In contrast, overseas holiday intention is the same as it was a year ago (11 per cent), remaining relatively stable over the last 12 months (up 60,000 people).

Australians intending to take a holiday in the next 12 months

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Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), October 2007-December 2017, average 3-monthly sample=4,465. Base: Australians 14+

Obviously, holiday intention can vary between different segments of the population, with factors such as current life circumstances and even whether they’re based in an urban or rural area having a bearing.

For example, holiday intention is markedly higher among parents of kids aged under 16 (74 per cent) than among Aussies in childless households (61 per cent), with this difference applying to both domestic (61 per cent vs 45 per cent) and overseas (10 per cent vs 12 per cent) holidays.

‘Empty nesters’ are above average for overall intention (77 per cent) due to the elevated proportion of them planning a domestic holiday (61 per cent), while older folks (aged 65+) are less likely to have any kind of getaway on the horizon.

While 70 per cent of Australians living in capital cities and 65 per cent of those based in regional areas are planning a holiday, it’s interesting to see that the former are more likely to have an overseas trip on the horizon (12 per cent) than the latter (7 per cent).

Meanwhile, the reverse is quite even for domestic holiday plans (54.1 per cent of country Australians vs 53.8 per cent of city-dwellers).

But to truly understand Australian holiday intention and just how radically it can vary between different sectors of society, Roy Morgan’s consumer-profiling tool Helix Personas is second to none.

Breaking down the population into seven Communities comprised of 56 distinct segments (Personas) based on demographics, lifestyle, attitudes, behaviour and values, Helix allows us to pinpoint precisely those Australians most (and least) likely to be planning a holiday in the next 12 months.

Not surprisingly, the Persona with the strongest overall holiday intention (at 89 per cent) comes from the upwardly mobile end of the spectrum: the highly ambitious and well earning, socially aware ‘Young and Platinum’.

While these well-educated, high income, inner city professionals neither top the scale for overseas or domestic intention, elevated proportions of the Persona have international and domestic travel plans – hence their high ratings for overall intention.

Helix Personas most and least likely to be planning a holiday in the next 12 months

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Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), 12 months to December 2017, sample=9,700. Base: Australians 14+

Though the other Personas most likely to be planning a holiday in the next 12 months are distinguished by factors such as age, family circumstances and destination preference, they are all similarly socio-economically advantaged, belonging to the high-value Leading Lifestylesand Metrotech Communities.

Meanwhile, people from the Persona known as Strugglestreet are the least likely group in the country to have any kind of holiday plans in the pipeline.

As their name suggests, people on Strugglestreet don’t have it easy. Over indexing on Semi or unskilled workers and the unemployed, their budget simply doesn’t stretch to holidays.

Also limited by financial constraints (due to either unemployment or under-employment), Coupon Clippers are also among the least likely to be planning a holiday. So too are the Doing it Tough, Rural Traditionalists, and the elderly, retired Frugal Living group, content with their low-key, local lifestyle.

Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, says: “In the 12 months to December 2017, the proportion of Australians planning a holiday in the next year increased to 70 per cent.

“While it might be tempting to attribute this recent growth to external worldwide events and global destination, Roy Morgan data shows this increase in domestic intention rather than overseas.

“Helix Personas can assist travel and tourism industry players keen to identify those people most likely to travel within Australia on their next trip.

“Admittedly, holiday intention is closely linked to socio-economic circumstances, but even among high-income earners, attitudes to travel, accommodation and destinations can vary dramatically.

“Regional tourism operators and travel agencies wishing to ensure their marketing campaigns are as strategic and effective as possible stand to benefit from the in-depth, holistic insights Helix Personas can provide.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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