Australians are the world’s second biggest spenders on overseas travel, according to Visa.
Visa’s latest Global Travel Intentions Study 2013 has revealed that Australians are only second to travellers from Saudi Arabia when it comes to spending up overseas.
Australian travellers spend an average of AUD$4,265 on each trip, with average spends roughly twice the Asia Pacific (AUD$1,980) and global norms (AUD$2,475).
The top three spenders abroad are the Saudi Arabians, spending an average of AUD$6,905 per trip, followed by Australian (AUD$4,265) and Chinese travellers (AUD$3,961).
Visa’s regular barometer of travel trends indicates Australian travellers place overseas travel high on the agenda – 98% have made leisure trips overseas in the past two years, a figure far higher than their counterparts in Asia Pacific (77%) and across the world (79%).
When travelling overseas, Australians are very cost conscious, with “good value for money” being the biggest factor in destination choice (38%), compared to 35% who travel to visit their family and friends and 34% who jet off for good food experiences.
According to the Study, which surveyed 12,631 travellers from 25 countries – including 500 in Australia – the average global travel budget of AUD$3,035 per trip is set to increase to US$2,590 on the next trip.
Plans to increase travel budgets in the future are especially high among Asian markets with a predicted budget increase of 30%.
Australian travellers plan to increase their travel budget by 9% to AUD$4,662 on their next trip.
“The results of the survey are encouraging in that they show international travel to be a priority which may hint to the strength of the Australian Dollar,” said Visa’s Country Manager for Australia, Vipin Kalra.
“Not only are Australians some of the world’s heaviest spenders on international travel, they also plan to increase their spend on their next trip overseas.”
Visa’s Study revealed the United States (US) and New Zealand were jointly ranked as the most popular destination choices for Aussie travellers for trips taken in the past two years (both at 21%). Singapore (20%), the United Kingdom (UK) (18%) and Thailand (16%) followed closely behind.
Over the next year, Australians expect to travel to the US (11%), New Zealand (10 %), UK (8%), Thailand (8%) and Indonesia (6%). The US holds a special interest across all age groups. However younger Australians are more inclined towards Asia over the next year, while older groups expect to travel to New Zealand.
“The study shows Australians love lengthy, long-haul, free and independent travel,”
Kalra said.
The Study paints a picture of today’s Australian Traveller. They embark on long holidays – a whopping 75% of all trips are for seven days or longer and they show a strong preference for free, independent and easy travel (83%) over packaged tours (10%). That’s not to say their holidays are unplanned – most (74%%) have a destination in mind before planning, and they spend an average of 15 weeks planning their holidays (18 weeks for long-haul travellers) before they jet off.