Australia has again fallen head over heels, not for a new cricketing hero, nor a miraculous real-estate bubble, but for the one constant in its national DNA: travel. The 2025 ATIA Travel Trends report, steeped in ABS data and industry insight, confirms what anyone who’s fought for a boarding-gate latte lately already knows: Australians are back on the move, and Asia is the belle of the ball.
The Romance Rekindled
To call it a rebound would be selling it short. Outbound travel rose 11.6% to 12.26 million trips in the year to June 2025. That’s not a recovery; that’s a full-throttle reunion with the broader world, with Aussies clutching passports like fresh-minted love letters.
The old European haunts, with their Tuscan villas and Roman piazzas, still have their place, but they’re increasingly being overlooked. Why? Because Tokyo’s neon lights beckon, Hanoi’s steaming street food whispers, and Bangkok’s frenetic charm pulls like a magnet. As Dean Long, CEO of ATIA, said with corporate composure but what many travellers would translate as sheer joy, Asia is it.
“Destinations across Asia, like Japan, China, and Vietnam, are experiencing significant growth,” he said.
“The surge in popularity highlights the importance of having a resilient and responsive travel sector.”
Translation: Pack your chopsticks.
Every Month is a Holiday
Every month in 2024/25 clocked positive growth, with May, February, and July roaring ahead. Holidays comprised the lion’s share of reasons to fly (50–64%), followed by the sentimental pull of visiting family overseas (22–35%). Business travellers, a dwindling tribe at just 2–8%, are being left behind by their holiday-hungry compatriots.
And here’s a twist: Italy and Fiji slipped backwards. Perhaps Australians have finally realised that a Tuscan cooking class doesn’t hold a candle to slurping noodles at a midnight izakaya in Shinjuku. Or that Fiji’s sunsets, gorgeous though they are, have some stiff competition from Ha Long Bay.
Inbound: The Welcome Mat Out for Asia
Of course, this is not a one-way affair. While Australians are streaming out, inbound travellers are streaming in. 8.40 million visitors came to Australia in the year to June 2025, a 5.5% rise, led by China, Japan, the UK, India, and Singapore.
Kiwis remain reliable as ever (what’s a Melbourne laneway without a visiting New Zealander taking photos?), and the UK and Singapore sent their fair share. Arrivals from India, South Korea, and the Philippines did decline, proving not every pipeline is flowing freely. But overall, the welcome mat is well and truly being trampled.
The American Plateau
Once upon a time, the American dream was the ultimate prize. Now? The USA sits on a plateau, steady but unspectacular. Australians made 746,220 trips there last year — up just 4.5%. This is respectable but hardly headline-grabbing compared with Asia’s meteoric pull.
Even more telling, inbound Americans hardly budged: 714,780 in 2024/25, a rounding error away from last year. The trans-Pacific courtship has become more of a “comfortable old marriage” than a whirlwind romance.
Jetstar Struts, Cathay Climbs
Airline dynamics tell their cheeky tale. Qantas, of course, still sits regally at 16.4% market share, like a seasoned monarch on the throne. But who’s stealing glances? Jetstar, which grabbed 12.4% and grew smartly, proving once again that Australians are happy to fly budget if it means an extra sushi dinner abroad.
Cathay Pacific also surged, its share leaping from 3.4% to 4.0%, reflecting the Asian tide. Meanwhile, Emirates, Qatar, and Singapore Airlines suffered minor slippages. It seems loyalty is fragile when faced with a tempting fare and an efficient connection to Osaka.
Total passengers carried in the year to May rose from 3.03 million to 3.35 million, with Jetstar and Cathay the biggest climbers. The skies, it seems, are anything but static.
Domestic Surprises: Hobart and Perth Muscle In
Closer to home, the East Coast corridor still rules the roost, but it’s not all about Sydney-Melbourne anymore. Hobart-Melbourne and Perth-Sydney recorded the sharpest growth, up 8.3% and 7.5% respectively. That’s right: Hobart, once the sleepy sibling, is flexing its muscles — and Perth, so often the forgotten cousin, is making sure it’s not left behind.
More Than Numbers
What all of this says is that Australians remain incurably restless. The travel itch is back, the passports are dog-eared once more, and the world is being rediscovered — often with a bowl of pho or a Tokyo ramen in hand.
The tourism sector, for its part, must stay nimble. As Dean Long diplomatically reminds us, booking with an ATIA-accredited travel business is the wisest move for transparency and peace of mind. But beyond the corporate messaging, the truth is more straightforward: Australians will keep travelling because it’s who they are.
The statistics may crunch neatly into reports, but the real story is far more human: the grandmother in Adelaide booking her first trip to meet family in Hanoi, the young couple from Brisbane swapping Byron Bay for Bangkok, and the retirees from Perth swapping Mediterranean cruises for cherry blossom season in Japan.
Travel, for Australians, isn’t just a pastime. It’s a pulse. And in 2025, that pulse is racing.
By Michelle Warner
