#KnowTravel Series 4: Top 10 Travel Destinations for Australians

 

In fact, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (no yawning, stick with us!) in the last financial year while nearly 60% of short-term resident departures were indeed for holidays, nearly 25% of leavers went to visit family and friends and a further near 9% embarked on business trips.

 

What does that tell you? That as a travel agent, you’re not necessarily going to be catering to holidaymakers with all-inclusive trips all of the time. Of course, there are agencies and agents that provide exclusive services to business travellers - but that’s a story for another day.

 

Another interesting statistic to come from the ABS’ excitingly titled 3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, Jun 2016 report was that the median duration of stay was 13.6 days. With this two-week time-frame and trip purposes (be it trade or tropical holiday)  in mind it’s perhaps no wonder why the more than half of the most popular destinations for Australians were countries closer (well, as close-ish as you can get to our island continent - maybe with no stop-overs!) to our shores.

 

Now without further ado, here are the top 10 overseas destinations for short-term resident departures for 2015-2016. 

 

10. India
Departures: more than 300,000

Flight time: 12h 35m* duration from Sydney (SYD) to New Delhi, India (DEL)

Highlights: Life in Mumbai and along the Ganges River, Taj Mahal, Bollywood

 

9. Fiji
Departures: more than 343,000

Flight time: 3h 35m* duration from Brisbane (BNE) to Nadi, Fiji (NAN)

Highlights: Yasawa Islands, kid-friendly resorts for cheap, raw beauty

 

 

 

 

Departures: nearly 344,000

Flight time: 9h 35m* duration from Sydney (SYD) to Tokyo, Japan (all airports)

Highlights: Cherry blossoms, Mount Fuji, Harajuku, and, um, everything else

 

7. Singapore
Departures: more than 368,000

Flight time: 7h 45m* duration from Melbourne (MEL) to Singapore (SIN)

Highlights: Sentosa, Universal Studios, best-ever chicken and rice

 

6. China
Departures: more than 439,000

Flight time: 10h 25m* duration Melbourne (MEL) to Shanghai, China (all airports)

Highlights: Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, dumplings, Shanghai’s The Bund 

5. Thailand
Departures: nearly 548,000

Flight time: 6h 55m* duration Perth (PER) to Bangkok, Thailand (all airports)

Highlights: Grand Palace, Southern Islands, tuktuks, street food

 

4. United Kingdom
Departures: more than 606,000

Flight time: 23h 10m duration, 1+ stops from Sydney (SYD) to London, United Kingdom (all airports)

Highlights: London, Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace and English pubs 

 

3. USA
Departures: 1,034,000

Flight time: 13h 0m* duration from Brisbane (BNE) to Los Angeles, USA (LAX)

Highlights: Golden Gate Bridge, Walt Disney World, Central Park, super-size everything

 

2. Indonesia
Departures: 1,203,000

Flight time: 3h 45m* duration from Perth (PER) to Denpasar, Indonesia (DPS) - BTW that;sthat’s Bali BTW

Highlights: Bali, Borobudur temple, Nasi Goreng

 

1. New Zealand
Departures: 1,289,600

Flight time: 3hours, 5mins* duration from Melbourne (MEL) to Christchurch (CHC) Highlights: Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound, Bay of Islands, Queenstown and snow

 

 

So now you've got all the fast facts about these top destinations! You're one step closer to being a travel expert.