There has been a surge in Australian tourists travelling overseas. Picture: supplied
By Angela Saurine
From: news.com.au
June 07, 2011
AUSTRALIA'S strong dollar is leading to a surge in international travel, with a 29 per cent rise in the number of Australians travelling overseas in the past year.
But it is not just the United States that is booming, with Cambodia, Vietnam, Vanuatu and Malaysia among the fastest-growing hotspots for Australian travellers.
Latest research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows 693,000 Australians travelled overseas in April, compared to 537,100 the same month last year.
The rise was partly attributed to the extended long weekend over Easter, with many people taking advantage of the public holidays and heading further afield than usual.
the number of people travelling to Cambodia rose by 55 per cent over the year, Vietnam rose by 54 per cent, Vanuatu rose 36 per cent and Malaysia rose 42 per cent.
The number of Australians travelling to the United States also increased by 35 per cent.
At the same time the number of Australians heading to Egypt fell by 28 per cent following political unrest there and the number going to Japan dropped by 53 per cent after the March earthquake and tsunami.
But with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade lifting its overall warning for Japan to its lowest level to ``be alert to own security'' confidence is expected to return.
Despite fears of retribution attacks in Indonesia following the death of Osama Bin Laden last month, travel experts expect travel to Bali to remain strong.
Accor hotel group spokesman Peter Hook said Australians were becoming more resilient.
"Immediately after the death of Bin Laden we received a number of calls at our reservations centre with guests concerned about travelling to Bali,'' he said.
"Some family travellers changed their bookings to other destinations, such as Fiji and Thailand, but really there was only a small reaction and that was confined to the first few days.
"The concern wasn't really about resorts, but rather crowded places such as airports and markets.''
The news was not so good for the Australian tourism industry, with the departures so far this year growing eight times faster than the number of tourists coming to Australia.
"As the number of Australians travelling overseas continues to soar, largely thanks to the strong dollar, fewer people are holidaying domestically and that’s bad news for tourism operators, especially in regional areas of Australia,’’ Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive John Lee said.
"If the dollar remains at around current levels, outbound will continue to grow strongly and the buying power of international visitors is reduced, meaning the tourism trade deficit could top $10 billion a year.’’
Mark Lee, a 37-year-old waiter from Footscray, and his partner recently returned from an 18-day trip through Cambodia and Vietnam with Travel Indochina.
"We’d both been to Thailand before and I’d heard that Cambodia was still quite undeveloped,’’ he said.
"There’s not as many tourists.
"Asia is cheap anyway so with the strong Australian dollar it’s even better value for money.
"Flying time was also a factor - it’s great to fly somewhere that’s less than ten hours away.’’
TOP DESTINATIONS FOR AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLERS
New Zealand 95,500
United States 74,800
Indonesia 74,100
Thailand 53,000
United Kingdom 43,600
Fiji 29,000
FASTEST GROWING DESTINATIONS FOR AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLERS
Cambodia +55% to 2,800 people
Vietnam +54% to 20,700 people
France + 50% to 12,600 people
Malaysia +42% to 26,500
Indonesia +41% to 74,100 people
Vanuatu +36% to 5,600 people
By Angela Saurine
From: news.com.au
June 07, 2011
AUSTRALIA'S strong dollar is leading to a surge in international travel, with a 29 per cent rise in the number of Australians travelling overseas in the past year.
But it is not just the United States that is booming, with Cambodia, Vietnam, Vanuatu and Malaysia among the fastest-growing hotspots for Australian travellers.
Latest research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows 693,000 Australians travelled overseas in April, compared to 537,100 the same month last year.
The rise was partly attributed to the extended long weekend over Easter, with many people taking advantage of the public holidays and heading further afield than usual.
the number of people travelling to Cambodia rose by 55 per cent over the year, Vietnam rose by 54 per cent, Vanuatu rose 36 per cent and Malaysia rose 42 per cent.
The number of Australians travelling to the United States also increased by 35 per cent.
At the same time the number of Australians heading to Egypt fell by 28 per cent following political unrest there and the number going to Japan dropped by 53 per cent after the March earthquake and tsunami.
But with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade lifting its overall warning for Japan to its lowest level to ``be alert to own security'' confidence is expected to return.
Despite fears of retribution attacks in Indonesia following the death of Osama Bin Laden last month, travel experts expect travel to Bali to remain strong.
Accor hotel group spokesman Peter Hook said Australians were becoming more resilient.
"Immediately after the death of Bin Laden we received a number of calls at our reservations centre with guests concerned about travelling to Bali,'' he said.
"Some family travellers changed their bookings to other destinations, such as Fiji and Thailand, but really there was only a small reaction and that was confined to the first few days.
"The concern wasn't really about resorts, but rather crowded places such as airports and markets.''
The news was not so good for the Australian tourism industry, with the departures so far this year growing eight times faster than the number of tourists coming to Australia.
"As the number of Australians travelling overseas continues to soar, largely thanks to the strong dollar, fewer people are holidaying domestically and that’s bad news for tourism operators, especially in regional areas of Australia,’’ Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive John Lee said.
"If the dollar remains at around current levels, outbound will continue to grow strongly and the buying power of international visitors is reduced, meaning the tourism trade deficit could top $10 billion a year.’’
Mark Lee, a 37-year-old waiter from Footscray, and his partner recently returned from an 18-day trip through Cambodia and Vietnam with Travel Indochina.
"We’d both been to Thailand before and I’d heard that Cambodia was still quite undeveloped,’’ he said.
"There’s not as many tourists.
"Asia is cheap anyway so with the strong Australian dollar it’s even better value for money.
"Flying time was also a factor - it’s great to fly somewhere that’s less than ten hours away.’’
TOP DESTINATIONS FOR AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLERS
New Zealand 95,500
United States 74,800
Indonesia 74,100
Thailand 53,000
United Kingdom 43,600
Fiji 29,000
FASTEST GROWING DESTINATIONS FOR AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLERS
Cambodia +55% to 2,800 people
Vietnam +54% to 20,700 people
France + 50% to 12,600 people
Malaysia +42% to 26,500
Indonesia +41% to 74,100 people
Vanuatu +36% to 5,600 people
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