Australians say they need a break from planning their holidays

OVERWHELMED Australian families are increasingly turning to package deals as a way to take the hassle out of organising holidays.

Easy way out ... Australian travellers are looking for deals to remove the hassle of plan

OVERWHELMED Australian families are increasingly turning to package deals as a way to take the hassle out of organising holidays.

With growing work and time pressures, families want their holidays to be as easy as possible to plan, market research company TNS Australia’s Domesticate study shows.

TNS Australia head of travel and leisure Ed Steiner said the survey of 1000 Australian travellers showed many felt overwhelmed with too much information and choice when planning the details of a getaway.

He said the obvious response was to look for conveniently arranged holiday ideas, such as package deals.

“Travellers are looking for deals to remove the hassle of planning, help filter options and generally make travel easy,” he said.

“Too many options make decisions difficult and increase the risk of making the wrong decision.”

Escape Travel national marketing manager Emma Gilleland said they had seen a 30 per cent jump in the number of customers choosing all-inclusive package holidays over recent months.

Last month, the company launched a new Pack & Relax series of all inclusive getaways to Bali, Fiji and Phuket in response to this demand.

Mr Steiner said the increasing popularity of package trips was part of an overall shift towards planning simpler holidays that allow Australians to unplug from technology and reconnect with family and friends.

“As part of this, there’s a strong desire to get back to basics and holiday more simply as we did in the past,” Mr Steiner said.

“This is true particularly among families who want to share the experiences of their childhood with their own children.”

The study showed while overseas destinations remain popular, in 2013 Australians re-embraced domestic destinations as a result.

New South Wales travellers preferred to holiday in their own backyard, with 52 per cent of locals choosing the state’s regional areas as their destination of choice in the past 12 months.

Regional Queensland was the second most popular destination.

Victorians showed a similar affinity for home, with 62 per cent nominating regional Victoria as the primary holiday destination.

The majority of Queenslanders also wanted to stay at home, while 29 per cent ventured south of the Tweed River into New South Wales for a break.

This was a pattern repeated in other states.

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