New Zealand no longer Australians’ top travel destination after a 50-year reign

For the first time in the 50 years since travel records were first collected, New Zealand is not the top holiday destination for Australians. What has replaced it and why?

For the first time since travel records were collected, New Zealand was not Australians’ top holiday destination over a calendar year.

The Bureau of Statistics has revealed that more Australians made a short-term trip to Indonesia in 2023 than New Zealand.

The final figures were barely even a contest whereby 1.37 million Australians travelled to Indonesia last year compared with 1.26 million who flew or cruised across the ditch.

Furthermore, the ABS reported that 83 per cent of Australians who went to Indonesia were holiday-makers, while 7 per cent were visiting friends or relatives.

By contrast, just 43 per cent of Aussies travelling to NZ went for a holiday, while 38 per cent visited family or friends.

New Zealand has lost its status as Australians’ favourite overseas destination for the first time since travel records were collected.

ABS head of migration statistics Jenny Dobak said the figures represented a significant shift in travel habits.

“New Zealand has been the leading destination annually since our records began nearly 50 years ago,” said Ms Dobak.

In 2019, 1.46 million Australians visited New Zealand, compared to 1.4 million to Indonesia.

Australian Travel Industry Association chief executive Dean Long said cost-of-living pressures helped to drive the popularity of Indonesia, and in particular Bali, over New Zealand.

“Bali is a lower-cost destination than some of its Pacific neighbours, and we know people still want to spend money on their holidays even in tough times,” Mr Long said.

“New Zealand, if you’re going for a holiday, is typically a higher-cost holiday, such as skiing or touring, and as a result Bali’s just steaming ahead.”

Air capacity was another factor in Bali’s domination of Australians’ travel plans, as there were a lot more direct flights into Denpasar than New Zealand.

“Air capacity to New Zealand is still significantly down on what it was prior to the pandemic, so that’s having an impact on prices and where people want to go,” Mr Long said.

“When we compare that to Indonesia, and Bali in particular, seat numbers are thereabouts or slightly above what they were in 2019, and therefore we’re having a much easier opportunity to get good priced airfares to a leisure destination Australians like to travel to.”

As the biggest carrier of travellers from Australia into Bali, Jetstar was not surprised by statistics.

A Jetstar spokesman said the Indonesian holiday isle was easily the airline’s most popular international destination with 1.7 million people flying between Australia and Bali last year.

“Aussies’ love for Bali shows no end,” said the spokesman.

“We operate up to 26 flights a day in both directions and demand continues to be strong.”

Virgin Australia was also seeing robust demand, after adding a new route between the Gold Coast and Denpasar last year.

A Virgin Australia spokeswoman said they were hoping to grow services in the not too distant future, including flights via Perth.

Bali’s Kuta beach is popular with visitors from all over the world but particularly Australia.

Heading in the other direction, short-term visitors from overseas to Australia still lagged behind pre-pandemic figures. There were just over 7 million arrivals last year compared with 9.5 million in 2019.

NZ represented the biggest source of visitors to Australia in 2023, followed by Americans and arrivals from the UK. Chinese tourists were starting to return in larger numbers, and Indian visitors were already back to where they were in 2019.

Mr Long said Australia’s reputation as a high-cost holiday did not help the recovery, because post-Covid travellers typically sought short-haul flights and lower-cost, single city destinations.

“They’re the destinations that are experiencing the fastest recovery and changing the game for the most part,” he said.

“Those destinations may be less diverse (such as Bali versus New Zealand) but you’ll still be able to have the type of leisure holiday that your family can enjoy, and still feel a bit special even when things are really tight.”