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The latest Roy Morgan Holiday Tracker research comes at absolutely no surprise to anyone in our office.

Roy Morgan Research’s Holiday Tracker has revealed (wait for it) Boomers aged 55 and over is most likely to take a package holiday tour, with 61% of all package tours sold in Australia going to this market.

The research into international and domestic holidays revealed Baby-Boomers, born between 1946-1960 represented the largest share of the total number of Aussies who took a package tour last year at 36.5%.

The niche market revealed pre-boomers (born before 1946) accounted for the second-largest portion of total package-tour travellers at 24.1%, and the “Contiki” generations, Gen Y (1976–1990) and Z (1991- 2005) accounted for just 13.2% and 10.2% respectively.

“Although package holidays (such as Contiki tours) designed for young Aussies still have a place, older Aussies are the main market for this type of travel,” Roy Morgan Research, Group Account director, Angela Smith, said.

“With time and money at their disposal, but possibly lacking the inclination to research and book all the separate components of their holiday, many would find the idea of an all-inclusive package very appealing.”

The research was based on all Australians 14+ who took at least one trip in last 12 months. Hardly surprisingly, 42.3% were folks travelling with a partner, 12.3% were travelling with a friend or small group of friends and 9.7% were travelling as a family with kids.

Package holidays remain relatively unappealing for singles, with just 8.3% of them packing their bags to head off without a mate.

“Package tours are particularly popular for overseas travel: almost 60% of Australians who took a package tour on their last trip did so overseas. Depending on the destination, foreign travel can sometimes be a challenge, so knowing that someone else has the finer details under control can be very reassuring.”

However, what’s perhaps more interesting, is the overall number of Australians choosing package tours just accounts for 1.6% of the market, or just over 200,000 travellers.

“The package tour market may be small but it should not be ignored. This kind of holiday has benefits for all involved: the tour operator, the travel agent (who earns commission), and of course the traveller, who can concentrate on enjoying themselves without worrying about logistics,”

“But a traveller’s age is not the only factor influencing their decision to take a package tour. Holiday attitudes are also key: for example, 53.2% of Australians who took a package tour on their last trip agree that ‘I enjoy holidays where everything is organised for you’ – well above the national average of 32.6%,” Smith said.

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

Latest comments

AUSSIEtraveller says:
July 17, 2015 at 3:07 pm
“However, what’s perhaps more interesting, is the overall number of Australians choosing package tours just accounts for 1.6% of the market, or just over 200,000 travellers.”
this statement is simply wrong or your definition of a package tour is too tight.
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Baby Boomers contiki gen x gen y holiday Pre-boomers roy morgan travellers