Cost of living crunch pushing summer holiday bookings to the last minute

Summer holiday plans are increasingly being left to the last minute as financially stressed families wait to see what’s left in the kitty before booking flights or accommodation.

Summer holiday plans are increasingly being left to the last minute as financially stressed families wait to see what’s left in the kitty before booking flights or accommodation.

A survey of more than 2000 Australians commissioned by the Tourism and Transport Forum showed 62 per cent of those questioned said they would book a holiday less than a month in advance, with 6 per cent prepared to take their chances the day before.

TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said Australians were normally early holiday planners, booking months in advance, but the cost of living crisis was having a big impact.

“It’s a reflection of ‘will I have the money, won’t I have the money, and I won’t know until the last minute’,” Ms Osmond said.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to predict if they will (have the money for a holiday) and that’s manifesting in spontaneity on a whole new level.”

Younger people aged 25 to 34 were the most likely to book last minute, just ahead of 18 to 24 year-olds, while older age groups were much more conservative with lead-in times to holiday plans.

Despite the change in booking behaviours, Ms Osmond said holidays were still a high priority for all people in what she saw as a “manifestation of how people felt during Covid”.

Three out of four of those surveyed said they would travel over summer, with most (36 per cent) planning to explore their own state and 25 per cent heading interstate.

Only 14 per cent were flying overseas, with New Zealand the top destination followed by Japan and Europe.

Ms Osmond said it was pretty clear Japan’s snowfields were replacing Canada and the US for many Australians because of the lower cost and closer proximity.

Japan’s snowfields could be thick with Australians over the December to February period, with the US and Canada considered too expensive for many. Picture: iStock

“What we hear anecdotally too is that the South Korean skiing market is probably the next one that will pop because it’s cheaper than Japan,” she said.

“It’s kind of one to watch and to a degree it’s that manifestation of cost of living that’s making people think differently about the destination that they holiday in now, determined by how much it’s going to cost and what the exchange rate looks like.”

In terms of spending, most holiday-makers, 78 per cent, were aiming to keep their vacation costs to under $5000, and a third expected to return home within two weeks.

One in six planned to take their pets along for the trip as more and more tourism businesses are going to great lengths to accommodate furry friends.

“Of course that’s something else that happened during Covid — everyone went and bought a dog or cat, and it’s leading to all kinds of changes to the industry,” Ms Osmond said.

“The caravan park guys such as NRMA are building pet fencing around caravan sites and cabins and there are airlines starting to allow pets in the cabins.”

With the industry bracing for a flood of last-minute bookings, Ms Osmond urged holiday-makers to be understand with the shift presenting a “whole range of challenges for operators”.

“It does present some unique problems for the industry when they don’t have longer-term booking certainty,” she said.

“You have to staff up for an influx and how do you make sure you have enough staff to service that? It just makes things much more difficult.”

Originally published as Cost of living crunch pushing summer holiday bookings to the last minute