Following the global pandemic, Australian travellers have experienced a period of sudden and rapid change. Despite rising cost of living concerns, motivation to travel has remained remarkably resilient – especially with Gen Z and Millennial travellers who are prioritising unique and memorable travel experiences over material goods. 

This tension between the intention to travel and tightening economic conditions is creating an environment where travellers are more prone to changing their minds and holiday plans. According to research commissioned by Google¹, more than 1 in 3 Australian travellers surveyed are altering their destination, flight, or accommodation choices during their planning process.   

Against this unique backdrop where Australians are willing to reconsider their travel plans, what is the most effective way to reach and engage this audience?  And how might you cater to travellers whose decisions tend to be inconsistent from their intentions?  

It’s no secret that travellers tend to be fickle consumers; the sheer scale of frequent flyer programs designed to encourage loyalty are a testament to this. And this is compounded by issues around self-reported data, with response bias and uncalibrated measurements often skewing findings. 

Traditional forms of research and survey data will continue to have a role in providing insights around consumer attitudes, but to truly obtain a holistic picture of consumer behaviour, we’ll need data which aligns more closely with a consumer’s decision-making process.  

This is where Visa’s spending insights comes into play. 

What spend insights tell us about Aussie travellers  

When navigating the gap between consumer attitudes and behaviour, Visa’s spending insights can unlock the value of data for strategic and actionable insights based on timely trends and preferences. This essentially allows brands to understand the types of activities Australians are actually engaging with, not just what they think they will do or spend money on.   

According to Visa Destination Insights, which uses depersonalised and aggregated data from consumer spending, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Japan were the top choices for Aussie travellers as holiday destinations across Asia Pacific in 2023.  

This aligns with general travel trends - yet a more nuanced narrative emerges if we dive deeper into the spending categories.  

For example, while nearly 10 per cent of all Aussie travellers visited New Zealand last year, its popularity doesn’t appear to correlate with an uptick in spend, with Aussies spending an average of 25 per cent less per trip than other visitors. This suggests a significant amount of VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) travel, which is typically associated with reduced spending due to potential savings on things like accommodation and eating out.   

On the flipside, our alleged love for Bali appears to be well-justified with the average Australian spending 14 per cent more per trip in Indonesia than other international visitors. One in every four Aussie visited health and beauty spas during their stay which suggests trips of a more indulgent nature. Australian visitors represent the top visitor group to Indonesia, trumping Americans and Singaporeans when it comes to the number of visitors.   

Trips to Japan appear to be of a more experiential nature, with one in every four Aussie travellers visiting an amusement park during their trip. This is reinforced by Australians indexing more than 10 per cent lower on retail spend versus the market average in Japan while spending 25 per cent more of their total expenditure on public transport versus other visitors.  

How NYC & Company uses Visa’s spend insights 

Such insights can be mirrored in how we explore the data of incoming tourists – which is demonstrated by our work with NYC & Company.  

As the official destination marketing organisation for the five boroughs of New York City, NYC & Company provides travel resources while their analytics team tracks visitor volume, spend, and behaviour to develop insights for nearly 2,000 member organisations and businesses.   

Following the pandemic, NYC & Company needed actionable insights to understand the nature of spend recovery with international tourists who visit New York City.  

By tapping into Visa Destination Insights, NYC & Co. was able to obtain timely and accurate insights into visitors’ spending preferences which were subsequently used to strategically improve market investments, prioritise advertising investments, and to create detailed visitation forecasts for their members.  

Visa’s in-market spend data was incorporated with consumer survey, sentiment analysis data, and travel statistics data which enabled NYC & Co. to easily inform their stakeholders on economic recovery trends while capturing meaningful differences in visitor spend across target market segments. Ultimately, these insights have helped empower NYC & Co. and its members transform how they interact with and attract visitors to New York City.  

Looking ahead 

As the tourism industry continues to rebound from the pandemic, having access to accurate, timely spend data will be more important than ever before and will be incredibly useful in helping organisations understand travel trends and behaviour, to allocate resources effectively, ultimately enhancing how brands can engage with travellers.  

In today’s data-driven world, the significance of timely, accurate data insights cannot be overstated. This, paired with findings that are closely associated with consumer behaviour, are critical in ensuring strategic planning and investment that are closely aligned with what consumers are looking for.  

To find out how to tap into Visa’s real-world intelligence, visit Visa Destination Insights or email visadestinationinsights@visa.com for more information. 

_{¹ Australia’s travel plot twist, Think with Google, December 2023, https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-apac/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/insights-aunz-traveler-behaviors/}