Australians’ adventurous spirit curbed by Covid as we return to what we know best

The notion of Australians being fearless adventurers is not supported by travel bookings showing ‘safe and familiar’ destinations are what we love best.

A girl snorkelling and waving at a turtle on coral reef in Fiji, the fourth most popular destination for Australian travellers. Picture: Tourism Fiji

The notion of Australian travellers being fearless adventurers post-Covid has been shattered by new data showing we are holidaying in the same places we have always gone.

Flight Centre listed the top five destinations pre- and post-Covid based on travel bookings, showing no change in Australians’ main holiday picks other than the order.

The UK was the biggest drawcard for solo travellers, couples, families and small groups up from third place pre-Covid.

The US dropped from first to second, and Bali slipped one place to third, while Fiji and New Zealand flipped around to sit in fourth and fifth spot respectively.

All destinations were well served by airlines operating to and from Australia but failed to reflect significant capacity increases to places like South Korea, Vietnam and Chile.

Flight Centre observed that “Aussies still love what Aussies love” with little apparent appetite to venture to more exotic destinations.

Author of Tourism Crises and Destination Recovery, David Beirman, said the popularity of “familiar destinations” didn’t necessarily mean that Australians had lost their sense of adventure during the pandemic.

“There’s plenty of Australians who are intrepid and fearless but the majority of them tend to play it safe,” Dr Beirman said.

“A lot depends on where they are in the life cycle, and where they are in the family cycle in particular in terms of how adventurous and how intrepid they’re going to be. We often find that the most intrepid travellers are either quite young, single and unencumbered or people who are older.”

Australians can’t get enough of the UK judging by Flight Centre bookings, which have made the United Kingdom our top travel destination. Picture: Leon Neal/AFP

Flight Centre chief financial officer Katrina Ryan said it was certainly a case of “old habits die hard” with top destinations remaining consistent in all the global regions in which the travel agency operated.

“While we can view that as people being creatures of habit, the mix of affordability, ease of access in terms of direct flights, and word of mouth recommendations that snowball also contribute to the top five or ten destinations being largely unchanged over time,” said Ms Ryan.

She said the UK in particular seemed to be in Aussies’ DNA.

“In some respects the UK trip or working holiday as a youth has been a right of passage for lots of Aussies,” Ms Ryan said.

“We really can’t get enough of the UK and the pandemic may have been a reminder of just how much our travel psyche is wedded to the British Isles.”

Something that had changed since the pandemic was the amount of cash being taken on overseas trips.

Flight Centre’s Travel Money stores revealed the average amount of cash exchanged for foreign currency had leapt 75 per cent from $2800 to $4900.

Dr Beirman said in places like the US and the UK the Australian dollar was not stretching very far which could account for the extra spending money.

Ms Ryan said many of their customers were of the attitude that “you only live once” and splashing out on a more luxurious holiday.

“People understand more than ever the importance of personal wellbeing on holidays. For many that means indulging the senses with immersive experiences centred around food, culture, or jaw-dropping sights with no expense spared,” she said.

“Our customer research is showing people are less likely to forgo an experience and are prepared to invest a little more in a destination to get the most out of it.”

More expensive airfares had also added to the cost of a trip, with an extra $3000 needed on average for international travels and $400 for domestic holidays.

“Another factor contributing to the higher cost is the length of international holidays are getting longer, now 21 days on average,” said Ms Ryan.

“Also, customers are forking out for a better standard of holiday. For example we are seeing a lot more balcony staterooms and suites selling on cruises and business class flight bookings are still very strong.”

Originally published as Australians’ adventurous spirit curbed by Covid as we return to what we know best