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20 July, 2020

STUDY: More than half of Aussies plan to travel domestically in 2020 (with a few exceptions)

An aerial photograph captured at the beautiful Sea Cliff Bridge located in Clifton, New South Wales.

While many Australians are planning domestic holidays this year, new research has revealed that travellers are prepared to cancel their plans at the first sign of a health risk.

A survey conducted by technology and insights specialists Toluna found that 52 per cent of Aussies are planning to travel domestically this year.

However, 70 per cent said they would cancel their travel plans if a second wave of COVID-19 hit Australia, and 56 per cent would cancel travel to a destination reporting a high number of COVID-19 cases.

Quarantine is also proving to be a turn-off for travellers, with 56 per cent of survey respondents stating they’d cancel plans if their destination imposed a 14-day quarantine, and 44 per cent would cancel if they had to quarantine upon returning to their own state.

Although current guidelines suggest in-flight face masks should be optional, the majority of survey respondents (65 per cent) believe face masks should be mandatory on flights.

They also believe there should be mandatory temperature checks before boarding (73 per cent), spaced seating (68 per cent) and hand sanitiser available for all passengers (82 per cent).

A large number of respondents (63 per cent) also believe any passengers showing COVID-19 symptoms should be prevented from travelling until they return a negative test, while 13 per cent said they should be allowed to travel, but only if wearing a face mask and isolated from other passengers.

For those not travelling this year, nearly three quarters (72 per cent) stated they don’t think it’s safe to travel domestically just yet, while 54 per cent are staying put due to financial insecurity.

Key travel motivators and top destinations

For respondents planning to travel within Australia this year, the key motivator for most (79 per cent) was to support local tourism, while 59 per cent plan to take advantage of anticipated travel deals, according to the research.

Half of the respondents surveyed had had their international travel plans cancelled due to COVID-19, so they decided to holiday within Australia instead.

Queensland was listed as the top travel destination, with 40 per cent of respondents looking to visit the sunshine state this year, followed by 39 per cent hoping to travel to, or within, NSW.

Despite the research being conducted as Victoria’s COVID-19 numbers were rising, 31 per cent of respondents said they planned to travel to Victoria at some point this year.

In terms of timing, the majority of respondents don’t plan to travel until the end of the year; 19 per cent in October, 19 per cent in November and 27 per cent in December.

Only seven per cent of those surveyed have travel plans for July, suggesting a large number of families stayed put for the school holidays.

International travel

With talk of a proposed trans-Tasman bubble, 27 per cent of respondents would book a trip to New Zealand in the next six to 12 months, and another 38 per cent said they would consider it, should the borders between the two countries be opened.

When it comes to global travel plans, 33 per cent of survey respondents said they would only travel internationally after a COVID-19 vaccine was made available.

Featured image source: iStock/Alexwise

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aussie travellers Australian travellers domestic travel international travel research study survey Toluna