Australia’s Travel Volume Remains Lower Compared To 2019

Australia’s travel and tourism industry is confronted with a rise in demand. Still, as the Australian Bureau of Statistics numbers reveal, incoming and outbound traffic is way below pre-pandemic levels.

In December 2022, the reported short-term outbound trips numbered 529,980, indicating a tenfold surge compared to the same month in the previous year. Despite this significant increase, the figure remains 29.3% lower than the data from December 2019. Similarly, 648,980 short-term trips were taken by international travellers in the same month, reflecting a significant rise from the previous year. However, this figure is still roughly forty percent lower than the statistics recorded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the nation’s borders opened on November 1, 2021, people flocked to visit ‘the Sunburnt Country’ so much so that in 2022, visitors were 15 times more than the previous year. In total, 3,694,380 people entered the country in the year 2022. Almost half of them came to Australia to visit family and friends.

Moreover, there was an increase in outbound travel during the entire year of 2022, with a total of 5,225,640 resident returns, marking a growth of over 17 times in comparison to 2021. Holidaying remained the most prevalent reason for Australians to travel abroad in 2022. Among the popular vacation spots, New Zealand continued to be the most favored destination for Australians, with 707,990 trips recorded.

Other popular destinations were Indonesia, the USA, UK, India and Fiji.