Festive holiday bargains on offer

Festive bargain hunters may still be able to nab a holiday deal as more Australians jet set overseas.

Keep an eye out for holiday bargains, says Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner.

Festive season holiday bargains are still on offer in some of the country’s most popular holiday regions as more Australians choose to jet set overseas.

Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner says there are still some flight and accommodation offers holidaymakers can nab for the Christmas and New Year weekends.

“People who still haven’t got their places rented, you might find the odd bargain but it won’t be widespread,” he said.

“There’ll be bits and pieces here and there, particularly in the major holiday destinations.”

One luxury holiday rental business at Byron Bay is offering incentives such as discounts to previous guests, platters and even a grocery run ahead of arrival to secure Christmas and New Year bookings, outlining more than a dozen properties available across the two weekends.

Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner.

International travel is still proving popular with holidaymakers, with Japan the hottest destination for Australians this summer. Flight Centre said Boxing Day also offers some bargain routes, with some return flights from Sydney to popular destinations like Los Angeles and London costing around $2000, and holiday islands of Bali and Fiji under $1350.

“Compared to the last few years people are travelling more overseas and we’ve still only got about two thirds of the people coming back in and it’s all about capacity,” Mr Turner said.

“Baby boomers are travelling a lot internationally because they can afford to, whereas for younger families, it’s expensive. They don’t have the paying capacity or the money that some of the older baby boomers have. They’re the ones that are missing out.”

This is likely the last big travel splurge for many Australians, AMP Capital’s chief economist Shane Oliver said. Interest rates are likely to catch up with consumers in 2024.

“Holiday travel has remained fairly strong but it almost certainly will slow down,” Dr Oliver said.

“We’re still biased towards the international against the domestic. Soon, the holidays people had missed out on would have been made up for and things will level out again. As is the case with discretionary spending locally being affected by (financial) restraints, it’ll start to affect holiday travel as well.”

Mr Turner said increasing flight capacity to and from Australia is key to bringing down costs and bringing in more tourists.

“The government is, deliberately it would appear, limiting capacity into and out of Australia to protect the local airlines,” he said.