Pop growth drives travel

AUSTRALIAN population growth since the year 2000 is powering the travel industry, according to a recent report published by Roy Morgan.

In 2000/01, around 10.7 million Australians each year had at least one holiday, including 10.3 million who took a domestic holiday and two million who ventured overseas.

Today however, around 13.7 million Australians take at least one annual holiday, including 12.6 million taking a domestic holiday and 5.5 million travelling overseas, representing an increase of three million (+28%) heading on vacation compared to 19 years ago.

Roy Morgan contends this increase in travel is driven entirely by population growth, with the proportion of Australians taking trips dropping from 69.3% in 2000/01 to 66.8% today.

Despite the fall per capita, far more Australians are taking expensive overseas holidays now than two decades ago, up by 169.3% since 2000/01.

“This rate of population growth exceeds the relative growth in Australians taking holidays, whether domestic or overseas,” said Michele Levin, Roy Morgan’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Although overseas holidays are increasing in popularity in 2019, the average length of an overseas holiday has dropped to just over three weeks, or 21.6 days.

“This is a significant decline from the average length of overseas holidays taken by Australians in the early 2000s, which clocked in at just over a month long, or 31.9 days.

“Australians are also taking fewer trips today...domestic or international, than they used to.”