Melbourne retains top spot as preferred holiday destination as Sydney overtakes Gold Coast for second place
The latest research into preferred holiday destinations from Roy Morgan in the year to June 2023 shows over 14.6 million Australians aged 14+ (67.7%) would like to spend at least one night in the next two years at a domestic holiday destination.
Melbourne has retained top spot as the preferred holiday destination with 2,977,000 Australians aged 14+ expressing a preference to stay at least one night in the Victorian capital on a trip in the next two years – up over 800,000 from two years ago during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 2.4 million of those mentioning a trip to Melbourne are coming from interstate locations – a higher number of interstate visitors than any other destination – while a further 545,000 Victorians also said they would like to spend at least a night in their capital city in the next two years.
Following the end of pandemic restrictions, the preference for travelling to Sydney has soared – and the New South Wales capital is now Australia’s second most preferred destination mentioned by 2,905,000 Australians – up over 900,000 from two years ago.
Gold Coast, which soared to first place in popularity during the pandemic, has now dropped back to third position with 2,647,000 Australians mentioning travelling to the city in the next two years.
Queensland capital city Brisbane is the fourth most popular domestic holiday destination with 1,963,000 Australians mentioning they would like to spend at least one night in Brisbane on a trip in the next two years just in front of Tasmanian capital city Hobart on 1,918,000.
There has also been a rapid increase for those Australians mentioning travelling to Perth in the next two years since mid-2021, up 215,000 to 1,425,000 – just behind Canberra on 1,525,000.
Major city destinations Australians would like to stay at least one night on trip in next two years
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says:
“Over 14.6 million Australians mentioned they would like to stay at least one night in a domestic holiday destination on a trip in the next two years. The latest Roy Morgan results show that Melbourne has retained top spot as Australia’s preferred destination while Sydney has now overtaken the Gold Coast to move into second position overall.
“Australia’s two largest cities had trailed behind the Queensland resort city throughout much of the pandemic as extended lockdowns in both cities deterred potential holidaymakers. However, since lockdowns ended in October 2021 the preference for both cities has rapidly grown and in 2023 the two cities are clearly the most preferred for Australians looking for a holiday.
“Melbourne was selected by almost 3 million Australians as a holiday destination, up by more than 850,000 compared to the year to December 2021 during a second year of lockdowns. Heading north, Sydney has been a big improver over the last year with over 2.9 million Australians now nominating the harbour city as a preferred holiday destination – up by more than 900,000 over the last 18 months.
“However, the preference that Australians have for going to the Gold Coast continues to recede. Now 2,647,000 Australians mentioned they would like to take a holiday on the Gold Coast in the next two years – well down on a pandemic high of over 3.3 million in 2020. Filling out the top five preferred holiday destinations in Australia are Brisbane, mentioned by 1,963,000 Australians, and the Tasmanian capital of Hobart mentioned by 1,918,000.
“Although Melbourne has built on the lead it regained earlier this year, the preference for travelling to the Victorian capital still requires significant growth to return to pre-pandemic levels when more than 4 million Australians mentioned they would like to travel to the city in the next two years for a holiday.
“There are three cities which stand out for powering through the pandemic and building their brands as destinations Australians want to visit for a holiday. Compared to pre-pandemic there has been an increase of more than 200,000 Australians expressing a preference for visiting Sydney, Brisbane or Hobart compared to three years ago.
“Another bright spot is the performance of Perth, with a rapid increase in the number of Australians mentioning they would like to travel to the West Australian capital in the next two years since mid-2021, up by well over 200,000 to over 1.42 million.
“To get the most value out of the data Roy Morgan collects on Australian travel preferences and even more importantly, their intentions to travel, it’s important to drill down into what really drives Australians to make the decisions they do.
“The Roy Morgan product allows travel agents as well as holiday destination businesses such as hotels and resorts to understand where their customers are based and which markets to target precious marketing dollars at to drive the greatest return on investment.”
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Office: +61 (3) 9224 5309
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 |
