Aussies cut back on travel budgets as cost of living surges
Aussies are keen to travel this year, but are doing so on smaller budgets.
The rising cost of living is forcing Aussies to cut back on their travel spending, new research has revealed.
A survey by Power Retail found 66 per cent of Aussies had plans to travel domestically or internationally this year. Three quarters planned to take two or more domestic trips, while 56 per cent of those who usually travelled internationally, said they would take one overseas trip.
But Aussies will be doing so on a smaller budget. Half of Aussies surveyed planned to spend $2,000 or less on domestic travel this year, while two thirds (69 per cent) planned to spend less than $10,000 on international trips.
Also read: Look inside Australia’s best Airbnbs
Also read: Australia's priciest holiday homes - $18,000 per night to travel like a rock star
“Australians are keen to travel after a few years of lockdowns and they are doing so in droves,” Grant Arnott, CEO of Power Retail’s parent company Global Marketplace, told Yahoo Finance.
“But they are being met with much higher costs than anticipated and their overall cost of living has also increased, whether that be increased interest rates, rents, higher fuel costs and general inflation.
“People are being more conservative. While they want to travel, they don’t want to overspend at this point in time until they see a levelling out of inflation and interest rates.”
The rising cost of living was the main factor preventing Aussies from travelling, both internationally (53 per cent) and domestically (61 per cent).
More bargains coming this year
Bargains have been hard to find for the past 12 months, Arnott said, but he expected more deals would become available.
“Now with normality resuming, competition resuming and particularly with airlines coming back to full capacity, we are going to see more packages and more travel operators - whether that’s airlines or hotel groups or other tourism operators - starting to play with price more and I think that will be timely for consumers who haven’t been able to travel,” he said.
As to how to find one, Arnott recommended shopping around online for sales opportunities and exploring sites like Click Frenzy and CashRewards for sales.
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
