Expedia reveals its top travel destinations for Christmas and New Year period

There’s a reason you won’t find many Aussies visiting this destination over the Christmas period, while some of the others come as no surprise.

It may come as no surprise that Aussies are obsessed with Bali, with the Indonesian hotspot topping the most popular destinations for end of year travel plans.

Expedia’s latest trending data reveals Asian destinations have dominated the top 10 locations Aussies want to visit over the Christmas and New Year period.

Denpasar in Indonesia — which houses the main airport in Bali — came first, followed by Bangkok and Singapore, Phuket, Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur also making an appearance.

The close-to-home destinations dominate as Aussies travellers continue to prioritise accessibility and convenience going into the busiest travel period of the year.

“Were not surprised to see these new destinations on the list,” Expedia Australia managing director Daniel Finch told news.com.au.

“Bali has always been a favourite holiday destination for Aussies and our data consistently supports this, with Bali coming in as the top destination for Aussies travellers throughout the year.

Asian cities dominate Expedia’s list of top travel destinations going into the New Year.

“The strength of the Aussie dollar is a heavy load on the total cost of trips and these closer to home Asian destinations are providing good value for money, particularly with food, beverages and accommodation costs which are significantly cheaper when looking to convert the Aussie dollar.”

At the time of writing this, 1 Australian dollar will get you 10,111.991 Indonesian Rupiahs and with things like beverages, half a litre of domestic beer will cost you $4.94 at 50,000Rp, while renting a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre for a month would set you back 9,793,517.95Rp or $968.56. This figure is equivalent to one week’s rent in some major Aussie cities.

Unsurprisingly, Bali came in first.

It was followed by Bangkok in Thailand.

Mr Finch said affordability and accessibility are the main reasons Aussies flock to these destinations — particularly Bali which is known for its great surf, good food, larger than life party scene and of course its warm and welcoming culture and hospitality.

In May alone, almost 110,000 Australian tourists landed at Denpasar, making Aussies the most frequent international visitors to the island.

Asian destinations mainly dominated including Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.

“Previously we had different trending destinations (prior to Covid) that were further abroad such as the States and Europe (for end of year travel) dominating,” Mr Finch said.

“But right now the Aussie dollar is terrible for these locations.”

London, however, is still on the list at third, so it appears despite the Aussie dollar buying just 0.52 GBP, they’re still keen to get over there — while in the US it’s 0.63 USD and in Europe it’s 0.60.

“A hamburger in the US may look cheap at $US13 but after you convert it, it’s about $20 Aussie dollars and that’s without tax or tipping. So you’re really losing a lot of money,” Mr Finch added.

“Travellers would rather save and go on shorter trips and use that money on spending.”

And while European locations have not featured on the list, Aussies sure got their fix earlier in the year, despite higher airfares and the cost of living crisis.

Expedia said accessibility and convenience play a big role going into the New Year – which is why Aussies are choosing close to home locations.

According to the August instalment of the Australia Bureau of Statistics overseas arrivals and departures there was a recorded 2,583,660 returns from short-term trips by Australian residents across June to August, an increase of 913,780 on the same period last year.

In fact, a Finder survey recently found that 15 per cent of Aussies refused to give up going on overseas holidays despite cost of living after travel plans were halted because of the pandemic.

Gary Hunter, travel insurance expert at Finder said that while the cost of living crisis has made international travel “out of reach” for plenty of Aussies … it hasn’t stopped us all.

“There’s still plenty who are desperate to jet off. Some are even cutting back on essentials in order to save up some cash to go on holiday,” he said.

Affordability is another reason – with the Aussie dollar currently a lot stronger in those locations compared to the UK, US and Europe.

In saying that, Los Angeles also made an appearance in the top 10 at sixth spot with Mr Finch saying it’s largely due to parents promising their kids a trip to Disneyland.

“We are seeing them spend roughly seven to 10 nights in California and then a few days in Hollywood for a bit of shopping,” he said.

But perhaps it’s best to save some extra cash with the Aussie dollar forecast to fall below $0.60 to the US dollar by the start of 2024, according to CBA’s recently revised end of year outlook.

Meanwhile, in fifth place is Auckland in New Zealand, a location that often appears on the trending list for end-of-year trips.

LA was the only US city to make the list with Expedia’s brand managing director Daniel Finch saying it’s largely to do with parents promising kids a trip to theme parks.

“It’s just three hours away and a quick and fairly easy trip to take,” Mr Finch said.

“By way of currency it’s almost dollar for dollar”.

Singapore is also on the list sitting at number five — an Asian destination that has recently surged in popularity.

Mr Finch said travellers are starting to see it for more than just a corporate hub, with it’s variety of high-end and affordable food, magnificent hotels and shopping being a huge draw card.

According to Expedia’s latest research the top 10 fastest growing destinations on the platform are also all Asian destinations with Sapporo, Japan, in first place, followed by Shanghai in China, Apria in Samoa, Taipei in Taiwan and Guangzhous, China.

Hong Kong, Jeju in South Korea were in sixth and seventh place respectively, while Tokyo, Osaka and Phu Quoc in Vietnam completed the list.

It is based on Expedia’s 2023 flight demand to-date and flight demand in the same period last year.

The online travel booking site also announced big change to its app with the release of Trip Planner.

According to Mr Finch, it is an industry first that will simplify travel planning and allow travellers to collaborate on a group getaway in the app.

“We are trying to make it easier for couples, families and groups to plan and save and also create good itineraries and get surface content to them that is relevant,” he told news.com.au.

It now has a chat bot that allows travellers to type in ‘best hotels in Bali’ for example with the feature producing an ‘itinerary in seconds'.

“You can then save it to your ‘trip board’ so it will save you heaps of time scrolling.”

The new feature is expected to roll out by the end of the year.