Indonesia becomes most popular destination for Aussies

Seminyak, Indonesia - February 25, 2016: Seminyak beach at dusk. People chilling out, having drinks, laying on puffs, under colourful lit parasols

Thinking of heading to Bali anytime soon? Join the club.

According to new travel data from Euromonitor International, Indonesia has overtaken the US and New Zealand to be the most popular outbound destination for Australian travellers in 2017 – and is expected to stay on top for the next five years.

And really, it’s no surprise. Aussies love Bali – its beautiful beaches, bustling markets, lush rice fields and cheap booze beckon from only a seven hour plane ride away.

Bettina Kurnik, a senior research analyst at Euromonitor International, said Bali has been rising up the ranks for years now.

“Indonesia has emerged as the leading destination for Australian travellers in 2017, up 24 per cent from the previous year in terms of total trip numbers,” she said.

“While being a long-time favourite for Australian travellers, featuring consistently in the top five outbound destinations from Australia since 2010, the destination has benefitted from relatively close proximity to Australia, easing of price competition by low-cost carriers for domestic routes and rival France declining in popularity as a destination due to security concerns.”

The number of Aussies headed to Bali in 2017 has jumped by over 30o people – and is beating the second most popular destination, the US, by over 200 people and over 20 per cent.

But is Bali visiting Australia? It’s not even in the top five.

While New Zealanders are still visiting Australia the most, China is out to take out the top spot, with the number of visitors to Australia growing by over seven per cent.

“In terms of inbound arrivals, while 2017 may be the official China-Australia Year of Tourism, “Decade of Tourism” could be a more relevant moniker. Over the past five years, tourist arrival numbers from China to Australia have more than doubled to 1.3 million trips in 2017,” Kurnik explained.

“By 2022, this figure is forecast to reach 2 million. To put this in comparative terms, this would mean that the number of Chinese tourists to Australia would overtake long-time market leader, New Zealand, by 2020. Tourist arrival numbers from China are anticipated to surpass those from all Western Europe by 2022.”

But similarly to Aussies, the Chinese prefer countries closer to home.

“Keeping it in perspective, however, while the number of Chinese arrivals to Australia is significant, it’s still not enough to crack the top ten outbound destinations for Chinese travellers abroad. In 2017, vast numbers of tourists from China opted to travel closer to home, visiting nations across South-East Asia,” Kurnik said.

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