By any measure, the great Australian holiday is back, bags packed, spreadsheets open, and savings accounts quietly working overtime.
New research from Money.com.au confirms what airport queues and passport renewals have been hinting at for some time: travel has reclaimed its place as the nation’s most cherished financial goal heading into 2026, outpacing property, investing and even retirement.
According to the nationally representative survey, 46 per cent of Australians, around 10.2 million people, have named saving for a holiday as one of their top two financial priorities for the year ahead. It marks the second consecutive year travel has topped the list, easing only slightly from 49 per cent last year. In uncertain times, it seems Australians are choosing memories over mortgages.
Building an emergency fund ranked second at 42 per cent, followed by saving for retirement (35 per cent) and saving to buy a home (26 per cent). Investing (23 per cent), paying off a mortgage sooner (13 per cent), home renovations (10 per cent) and saving for children (5 per cent) trailed well behind.
Money.com.au finance expert Sean Callery says travel stands apart because it remains achievable and emotionally rewarding despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
“Most people can realistically plan for, budget toward and genuinely look forward to an overseas trip within a year, so it’s no wonder it remains a strong priority for Australians, even as cost-of-living pressures continue,” he says.
Unlike home ownership or long-term investing, holidays offer something increasingly rare in modern financial planning: certainty. The research shows Australians take an average of eight months to save for a holiday, suggesting travel is not an impulse, but a deliberate commitment.
“Our research shows that it takes Aussies, on average, about eight months to save for a holiday, which shows travel is something people are prepared to invest time and planning into,” Callery says.
“Asia remains a popular destination because that’s where you can enjoy premium experiences without the premium price tag.”
There is also a generational shift at play. Traditional milestones, owning a home, starting a family, and climbing the property ladder, are increasingly out of reach for many younger Australians. In their place, experiences are stepping into the role once held by bricks-and-mortar.
“Holidays, cruises and even backpacking have become a new kind of life currency,” Callery says.
“Experiencing new places and cultures can hold similar value to traditional assets for Aussies in their 20s and 30s who often feel locked out of milestones like home ownership or starting a family.”
Interestingly, Baby Boomers are leading the charge, with 53 per cent including a holiday among their top savings goals, followed by Gen Z (50 per cent), Gen X (45 per cent) and Millennials (34 per cent). For older Australians, travel is often about postponed plans and long-promised adventures. For younger cohorts, it is about living now, not someday.
The appetite for overseas travel is already translating into action. Australian Bureau of Statistics data show that short-term overseas trips rose 9.2 per cent in the year to October 2025, compared with the previous year. January, July and October remain the busiest return months, reflecting school holidays and peak travel seasons in destinations such as the United States, Europe and Japan.
Yet there is still room for savvy planning. Callery notes that timing can stretch a travel dollar significantly.
“Australians can generally stretch their travel budget further by planning trips outside peak holiday periods, when demand, and often prices, tend to be lower,” he says.
In an era where financial goals often feel distant or daunting, the humble holiday has become something else entirely: a tangible reward, a marker of progress, and for many Australians, proof that life can still be enjoyed while planning responsibly. As 2026 approaches, it seems the nation has spoken, and it wants a boarding pass.
by Bridget Gomez – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 3 minutes.
About the Writer.
Bridget has never been one to sit still. Of Portuguese heritage, she first trained as a nurse. She threw herself into work at the Commonwealth Veteran Affairs Repatriation Hospital, tending to old soldiers with stories almost as colourful as her own would become. It was rewarding, steady work, but wanderlust has a louder voice than routine.
So, she swapped starched uniforms for a backpack and set off on a twelve-month gallop around the globe. Along the way, she scribbled in journals, capturing the dust, the laughter, the odd missed train, and the occasional glass of wine too many. Those notebooks soon became a travel blog, her way of reliving and sharing the journeys with anyone willing to read.
Eventually, Bridget stumbled across Global Travel Media and, in her words, “the rest is history.” Now she writes with the same mix of heart and mischief that fuelled her travels.
