Australia tops UK travel wishlist

Cropped shot of three girlfriends out on a road trip

Aussies know how great our country is – and apparently, so does the rest of the world, in particular folks all the way over in Britain.

According to new data from Oyster Worldwide, Australia is among the top gap year destinations for UK school-leavers.

Other top destinations include Canada and Chille – and gap years are becoming more and more popular, with tens of thousands of recent high school graduates deferring further study in 2016 in favour of an Eat Pray Love-style trip.

UK travel association ABTA also noted over a 20 per cent increase in bookings with gap year companies – like gap year travel specialists Oyster Worldwide.

Over the last few years the gap year specialists have found that their animal welfare projects have been the most popular projects with young travellers: which include turtle conservation projects in Costa Rica and volunteering with elephants in Thailand.

The most popular destinations have also remained unchanging since 2014, with both South Africa and Thailand coming out on top for the last three years – both key locations for Oyster Worldwide’s animal welfare projects.

Thailand’s soaring popularity matches the country’s increasing tourism figures as a whole. In 2016 the number of foreign visitors to Thailand increased by almost 10 per cent to 32.6million and ABTA also saw the destination move up to be the second most popular choice among their gap year companies – but Australia took out the number one spot.

Oyster Worldwide’s trips to the land of vegemite and VB include farm work, surf camps and work placement in Sydney – so if you have any young relatives in the UK, farm work is great for building character (and staying in Australia for as long as possible).

Oyster Worldwide Travel Adviser Georgie Collcutt is excited to see new travel trends emerge in 2017.

“We are excited to help even more young people plan their perfect gap year following the release of A-level results this summer, and we are keen to see whether these booking trends remain consistent again or whether we will see new activities and destinations taking the lead,” he said.

“Taking a gap year after school or college is an exciting way for young people to broaden their horizons and explore the world,” he added.

Final exam results for UK students arrive a few months before Aussie results in August – so Oyster Worldwide are expecting to see a massive influx of students wanting to book during August and September.

The good news is Aussie school-leavers can still book amazing trips when they finish in November – whether that be a surf camp with a bunch of brits or volunteering with lions in South Africa.

The average cost of a four week trip (not including flights) is around $2100 Australian – but hurry, because the best ones will be gone fast.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

animal conservation Oyster Worldwide south africa volunteer projects