Virtuoso's research reveals where Australia’s luxury travellers are heading across long and short-haul destinations, trending destinations and the motivations behind their travels.
LAS VEGAS – Australians build travel into their lifestyle and the latest data released by the luxury travel network, Virtuoso, reveals the top long-haul destination leading into the upcoming Summer holidays is the United States. In terms of travel trends, cruising continues to gain momentum and multi-generational family travel is booming.
Released to coincide with Virtuoso Travel Week, being held in Las Vegas this week, the research reveals where Australia’s luxury travellers are heading across long and short-haul destinations, trending destinations and the motivations behind their travels.
“This research, which looks at travel trends identified by Australian Virtuoso agencies, reveals clients are keen to share travel experiences with their extended family. We feel it’s part of a growing trend to give experiences, not things,” Virtuoso Asia-Pacific Managing Director Michael Londregan said from Las Vegas.
“Despite the strong US dollar, the number one destination for the last quarter of this year is the United States, where we are seeing growth not only to the perennial favourites of Hawaii and California, but also significant growth to the US east coast cities.”
“The opening up of the Dallas gateway has now created a range of holiday options for Australians and is supporting new demand for Mexico.”
“We are also seeing strong demand for Italy and the UK and into Japan.”
“The global trend towards Cuba is also being reflected in the Australian market, where it ranks number one as an emerging destination, followed by Myanmar and Antarctica.”
“Increasingly, travellers at all levels are working their way through their bucket lists, and far from being paralysed by global issues, they are making informed decisions and getting on with travelling together in search of a life well lived.”
Key results include:
– Fiji is the top short-haul destination for the last four months of 2016, followed by New Zealand, Bali, the Whitsundays and Far North Queensland.
– Other emerging destinations include Iceland and Sri Lanka.
– Right now people are motivated by a desire to travel with their families (including multi-generational travel), to escape the winter and to undertake bucket list or iconic trips of a lifetime.
– Top trends include cruise, multi-generational family travel and expedition and adventure travel, with more last-minute bookings and a focus on health and wellness.
– The top five long-haul destinations in order are USA mainland, Italy, United Kingdom, Hawaii and Canada.
Virtuoso Travel Week, now in its 28th year, is the flagship event of the international luxury travel world, facilitating 326,200 face-to-face meetings between the network’s elite advisors and its renowned product partners.
This year a record 116 advisors are attending from the Asia-Pacific region, joining more than 5,200 delegates from around the world. Virtuoso Travel Week runs from 6-12 August and is held at Bellagio Resort & Casino, Las Vegas.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
