SUMMER travellers plan to stay close to home this season, new research from the Tourism & Transport Forum has revealed.
The association revealed three out of four Australians planning a summer holiday will travel within their own state, and one in four won’t travel at all during Christmas due to continuing concerns about COVID-19.
The national survey of 2,300 Australians conducted by MI Associates revealed a quarter of respondents are choosing a road trip in lieu of flying and other modes of travel, with the report contending there is significant work needed to encourage Australians to take to the skies and speed up the recovery of the nation’s visitor economy.
Tourism & Transport Forum Chief Executive Margy Osmond said while there was still some reluctance among respondents to get on an airplane, low COVID figures over the last few weeks would hopefully aid confidence.
Osmond added there was also reason for optimism through rural areas experiencing record booking numbers, with over 70% of those who had been planning overseas travel saying they would spend domestically.
“This is great news for domestic operators and shows there is significant opportunity to capture the outbound spend of locals who were going abroad although it would still not fully compensate for the lack of international visitation,” Osmond said.
“Anecdotal data from our airline members also shows bookings have ramped up since Queensland announced it would open its borders to Sydneysiders and Victorians…and with the South Australian/Victorian border reopening,” she added.
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Source: traveldaily