Paris, LA, Japan, Phuket: Where we’re spending our Easter-Anzac Day holiday bonanza

AUSTRALIANS are making the most of their Easter-Anzac Day bonanza, with a huge spike in travellers heading overseas.

A trip to Paris is possible with a 10 day break - with only three days’ annual leave - th

AUSTRALIANS are heading overseas in record numbers this Easter, as a once-in-20-year calendar match-up offers them the enticing prospect of a double-holiday-hit.

Travel companies say they are seeing up to a 70 per cent increase in interest from people holidaying over the Easter break, with one in 10 Australians using the opportunity to take extra time off.

But while local destinations such as far north Queensland have reported strong bookings, the popularity of overseas trips have also skyrocketed as this year Easter and Anzac Day fall a week apart, meaning that by taking three days’ annual leave Australians can get a whole 10 days off.

This will not happen again until 2025, and is one of only five times this century the two holidays will fall just one week apart.

“Aussies might kick themselves if they do not consider taking advantage of the double-holiday-hit to take just three days off work in order to get a whopping 10 days leave or a week out of the office to get two weeks off,” Expedia travel expert Kelly Cull said.

Ms Cull said Australians had grown used to heading overseas on short breaks in recent years, meaning they no longer batted an eyelid at travelling to long-haul destinations for only a few days.

She said favourable exchange rates with countries like Japan were also proving enticing.

Europe, South-East Asia and the USA are among the top long-haul travel destinations this Easter, according to data from the online booking site.

There has been a triple-digit increase in increase in trips to the UK, Italy and France, with the number of Australians wishing to welcome the start of the northern spring in Paris or other popular French destinations growing a whopping 330 per cent.

Well-loved South-East Asian destinations will see similarly large increases in the number of Australian visitors over the Easter break, with Phuket witnessing a 250 per cent spike in demand, Bali up more than 130 per cent and the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, up 90 per cent.

There has also been a 60 per cent increase in increase in travel to the US, with Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York proving the most popular destinations.

“There are a lot of people really taking advantage of the public holidays to head away,” Ms Cull said.

“It’s interesting that people are also using it as an opportunity to travel to places, such as Europe and the USA, which they would normally wait a few months to visit — until it’s a bit warmer.”

Despite the exodus overseas, holiday-makers intending to stick closer to home are nevertheless getting into the Easter act as well.

Queensland has been a particular beneficiary, with Cairns experiencing a 90 per cent increase in interest and the Sunshine Coast witnessing an 80 per cent jump.

The state’s tourism minister, Jann Stuckey, said while many operators were reporting strong bookings, vacancies remained for holiday-makers keen to explore her state.

Hobart and Melbourne are also proving popular among domestic holiday-makers, Expedia says.

Cairns Hilton general manager John Lucas said his hotel was seeing a large increase in bookings for this Easter holiday period compared to 2013.

“This is the strongest period we’ve seen for Easter in some years,” he said.

“In terms of bookings, we’re looking at it being at least 15 per cent higher than what we normally see.”