Australians are travelling more and further thanks to the ongoing strength of the Aussie dollar reveals a recent survey.
According to the latest MasterCard survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Travel, one in four of 647 surveyed Australians would not have travelled overseas this year were it not for a good exchange rate.
The strength of the Aussie dollar against the greenback has resulted in the USA proving to be the most popular destination with Aussie travellers, a quarter of respondents intending to travel to the States in 2011.
19 percent of respondents intend to travel to New Zealand, 18 percent to the UK, 12 percent to France and 10 percent to Germany, the survey revealed.
“The tourism industry in Australia has had a difficult start to 2011 – with the natural disasters in the first three months of the year and the knock-on implications on holiday numbers in the hardest hit areas,” MasterCard Australia Country Manager Andrew Cartwright said.
“These occurrences, alongside the strength of the dollar, have meant that many Australian travellers are looking overseas for their holiday destinations – a trend which is impacting heavily on the domestic tourism sector.”
However, according to Mr Cartright, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Australian domestic market, with AUD13.8 billion expected to be spent in Sydney by international tourists during 2011.
“What is encouraging is that despite the exchange rate making a visit to Australia more expensive, international tourists are still intent on travelling here, which will be a real boost for our domestic tourism sector at a time when it is really needed.”
(Source: etravelbackboard, 8th August 2011)
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