After almost two years of closed borders, Australia has welcomed back on 21 February the arrival of the first batch of international tourists and returning travellers in Sydney.
Travelport, a global technology company that powers bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide, released the latest trend data highlighting how Australians and the rest of the world are celebrating the reopening. When Australia announced it would reopen its borders to vaccinated international travellers as of 21 February 2022, international flight bookings to Australia increased by 93%
The top three Australian destinations for international travellers are Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
The U.K., India and Nepal are the top three countries travelling to Australia.
Australians are equally excited to go abroad, with India, the U.K. and USA leading the top ten international destinations
Travelport’s data said that 75% of international inbound bookings are for leisure travel. Solo travellers made up 35% of all Australian-bound flight bookings, the largest traveller segment. This may largely be comprised of Australian expats eager to return home, no longer needing to endure a mandatory two-week hotel quarantine.
Of all future inbound bookings, February 2022 is the most popular month to travel to Australia, making up 45% of all reservations.
The top three Australian destinations for international travellers are Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.
The top ten countries travelling to Australia
- United Kingdom
- India
- Nepal
- USA
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Germany
- Philippines
- Canada
Outbound travel
Australians are also excited to start travelling abroad. The top ten international destinations for Australian travellers to visit are:
- India
- United Kingdom
- USA
- Fiji Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Philippines
- Canada
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- Pakistan
Travellers are looking to stay longer as well. The average length of an international trip from Australia has increased to 32 days in 2022, ten days longer than the 22-day average in 2019.
