Fewer Australians planning holidays; Gen Ys still keen to get away
New data from Roy Morgan’s Holiday Travel Intention Report has shown that the holiday intentions of Australians aged 14+ has declined from a year ago. As of June 2019, 66.4% (13,709,000) of Australians intended on taking a holiday in the next twelve months, compared with 68.4% (13,880,000) a year earlier – a decline of 2% points (-171,000).
These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Australians each week and over 50,000 each year.
If we look at intention to take a holiday in the next twelve months for each generation, we see that Gen Y – those born between 1976 and 1990 – are most likely to be planning a holiday (73.2%). This is followed by Generation X (70.5%), Baby Boomers (66.4%), and Generation Z (62.5%) while fewer than half (47.7%) of Pre-Boomers intend on taking a holiday in the next twelve months.
Gen Y are not only most likely to be planning a holiday, they also now represent the largest generation based on cohort of travellers (25.3%). This is closely followed by Generation X (25.2%), Baby Boomers (22.6%), Generation Z (20.4%) and Pre-Boomers (6.5%).
Proportion of total holiday seekers that belong to each generation
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, July 2018 – June 2019, n=8,722. Base: Australians aged 14+ who intend on taking a holiday in the next twelve months.
The main driver of the drop in holiday intentions came from those intending on taking a domestic holiday, which fell from 52.9% a year ago, to 50.7% as of June 2019. International holiday intentions also fell slightly, declining from 11.5% to 11.1% over the same period.
What do we know about Generation Ys looking to take a holiday?
The quintessential Generation Y holiday seeker is more likely to be a woman than a man, and significantly over-represented from the State of Victoria. Compared with the average Australian she’s almost 50% more likely to have a diploma or degree.
Her average income is $65,220, with an average household income of $126,100. Nearly half of Generation Y holiday makers are classed as ‘Big Spenders’ in relation to their discretionary expenditure.
The Roy Morgan Value Segment which contains nearly a third of Generation Y holiday intenders is the Socially Aware profile – ‘With a strong sense of social responsibility and a propensity for convincing others of their opinions, they often become involved in pressure groups. This Segment can be idealistic, believing they can change the world if they can only get enough people to agree with them.’
Our Gen Y traveller is more likely than the average Australian to believe ‘a percentage of everyone’s income should go to charities’ and ‘love to do as many sports as possible’. She’s more likely to be ‘optimistic about the future’, ‘worry about getting skin cancer’ and she’s ‘always ready to try new and different products’ and also ‘go out of her way in search of a bargain’.
As you’d expect, she loves all things travel, and is more likely than the average Australian to ‘book and arrange all travel details herself’, ‘be active on her holidays’, ‘enjoy experiencing the local culture’, ‘enjoy the bright lights and big cities when she travels’ – in addition she also likes to get away on weekends.
Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says:
“Australians are well-known for their love of travel; however the latest Roy Morgan holiday intention data has revealed that compared with twelve months ago, the number of holiday seekers has slightly declined.
“While domestic travel intention experienced the largest percentage decline compared to a year ago, international travel intention also dropped. But despite these lower figures, over 66% of Australians are looking at taking a break in the near future.
“These latest travel intention figures may reflect sagging consumer confidence that impacted the early months of 2019 in the lead-up to the Federal Election. It will be interesting to monitor these figures in coming months as interest rate cuts by the RBA and the Federal Government’s income tax cuts are expected to provide a boost to confidence over the next few months.
“Analysing Australia’s intending holiday makers by generation shows that Generation Ys made up the highest proportion of holiday seekers (25.3%), closely followed by Generation Xs (25.2%).
“With over half of Australians intending to take a holiday belonging to these two generations (aged between 28-58 years old) it’s vital for businesses invested in the tourism sector including airlines, hotels, resorts and travel companies to finely tailor their marketing and advertising to provide the most compelling product offering they can.
“Roy Morgan’s extensive quantitative and qualitative data on all aspects of the Australian travel and tourism industry allows businesses looking for the edge to tap into this rich store of information derived from detailed in-depth personal interviews with over 1,000 Australians each week and over 50,000 each year as part of the Roy Morgan Single Source survey.”
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
