Despite persistently high interest rates that are set to continue into early next year, figures from the Tourism and Transport Forum show only about a quarter of the 1500 Australians surveyed are not travelling over the spring holidays.
More than 30 per cent are travelling within their own state, 25 per cent are going interstate and 13 per cent are travelling internationally.
Japan remains the most popular overseas travel destination, followed by Europe, Indonesia, New Zealand, the US and Britain.
TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said travelling had become similar to the “lipstick index”, a term used to describe increased sales of cosmetics during the early 2000s recession.
“Back then, when people couldn’t afford anything else, they would go out and buy themselves a small luxury. And for longer than I can remember, that stayed at the top of people’s discretionary spend,” she said.
“What’s now happened, and I think this is absolutely the product of Covid, is that people have decided the holiday is non-negotiable, that it is at the top of their discretionary spend list.
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