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Australia

Australia

Visitor characteristics

  • 62% of holiday visitors (excluding British expats) are making a repeat trip to Britain (within ten years)
  • 13% of visits from Australia were made by British nationals in 2016
  • 73% of staying holiday visitors from Australia are ‘extremely’ likely to recommend Britain as a holiday destination
  • A third of the visits from all Australian states to Britain are made by visitors that reside in New South Wales

Popular activities

Sightseeing of Famous Buildings/ Monuments

Visited a Pub

Went Shopping

Global context

Measure2016
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)30.8
Global rank for international tourism expenditure6
Number of outbound visits (m)16.0
Most visited destinationNew Zealand
Most visited destination in Western EuropeUnited Kingdom

Key demographic and economic data

Measure2017
Population (m)24.7
GDP per capita PPP (US$)44,910
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)2.6
Annual average GDP growth over the past year (%)2.2

Resources

Australia market profile (PDF, 1MB)

visitbritain_marketprofile_australia_v3.pdf

Australia market snapshot (PDF, 1MB)

australia-snapshot-aug17.pdf

Australia aviation profile (PDF, 217 KB)

aviation_market_australia_10072018.pdf

More resources

Find out where visitors from Australia to the UK reside in their own country. Published in 2006, 2009 and 2014

annual_states_of_residence_2016_for_web.xlsx

Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.755 AUD

As of 15 August 2018

Retrieved from the Bank of England

Inbound visits to Britain

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Seasonality (Share of visits)

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Visits % total Visits % total
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Regional spread (Share of visits)

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Visits % total Nights % total Visits % total Nights % total
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Journey purpose (Share of visits)

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Sample size less than 30!
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What Australians think about Britain

  • Australians still hold an upbeat opinion of Britain. For instance, they ranked Britain second overall compared to 49 other nations in the 2017 Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index. Their perceptions of the British culture even improved one place in the nations' ranking for that attribute from 3rd place in 2016 to 2nd place in 2017. 
  • Museums, sports, music and films are the cultural products or services that Australians most keenly associate with Britain
  • Australians expect that a trip to Britain would be 'educational', 'exciting' and 'fascinating' 
  • In 2016 Australians rated Britain more favourably for 'welcome' than any other inbound markets did
  • 33% of Australians say they would like to visit Buckingham Palace on a trip to Britain
  • Top holiday 'wants' include 'good value for money' and 'having fun and laughter' - the US is the destination seen as best place to deliver on both these needs
  • Britain is seen as the 'best place' for factors such as 'exploring the place' (third top holiday 'wants' for the Australians) and 'visiting a place with lots of history' but scores poorly in relation to 'food and drink' and 'experiencing things that are new to me'

Caring for visitors

  • Meeting the locals is a key part of an Australian’s holiday: Australians love to chat with the locals and find out about the history of the area, recommended pubs and markets and find out about local stories
  • All types of accommodation appeal to the Australian market
  • British pubs provide a unique experience, not really found in Australia
  • Most Australian visitors arrive by plane very early in the morning, and appreciate early check-in to their room, or at least the opportunity to shower or clean up.

The leisure & travel trade

  • The Australian travel market is dominated by only a couple of vertically integrated companies, but consortia of independent travel agencies have gained in importance in the last few years
  • Australian consumers continue to display a high usage of bricks and mortar retail agencies for purchasing long-haul travel
  • Australians tend to book a long time in advance, mostly flexible packages, or semi-packaged holidays
  • Travel agents have opportunities to sell them additional products during the period leading up to their trip

Access to Britain from Australia

Measure2017
Weekly aircraft departures21
Weekly seat capacity8,758
Airports with direct routes in Australia2
Airports with direct routes in Britain1
  • While only two airlines offer direct, stopping flights from Australia to Britain*, many other carriers operate connecting routes with a change of aircraft via hubs in Asia and the Middle East
  • Qantas will start operating a new direct,daily service in March 2018 between Perth and the UK, flying non-stop between Australia and the UK for the first time ever*
  • 9% of departing visitors from Australia travel to Europe using Eurostar services
  • Departing visitors from Australia travelling home by air are charged £75 in Air Passenger Duty if travelling in economy class

*2017 data

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