Chatting with a well-known tour company and jetting off to an overseas destination is a favorite pastime for many people. New research, however, says that domestic holiday intentions in Australia are sagging.

Let’s take a closer look at the latest developments in the Aussie travel space, and what these mean for tour operators.

Travel Intentions Are Down, but Not Out

According to new information from Roy Morgan Research, as part of their Holiday Tracking Survey for the June quarter of this year, intentions are down for domestic holidays, with many choosing to stay at home.

Around 70 percent of Australians over the age of 14 are planning to take a trip in the next 12 months, which is a drop from the 73 percent intending to do so in January of this year. Of course, it’s only a very slight drop from last year, when the number stood at 71 percent.

So what’s the likely reason? Well, many Aussies are likely to be thinking about sticking around thanks to great weather at home, and possibly the chance of an overseas holiday further down the line. I mean, who could resist saving a little longer and heading somewhere really interesting?

On a related note, Roy Morgan found last year that more Aussies are ‘going Boeing’ – taking planes on domestic holidays instead of loading up the family wagon for a Lampoon-esque vacation.

Domestic holidays can rarely match the allure of an exotic destination, however, and Aussies would seem to agree. The research found that the proportion of Australians planning to jet off overseas for their next holiday hadn’t changed, remaining at 10 percent.

For some more global context, the number of outbound US trips increased and domestic trips grew in length.

A Common Issue

Traveller numbers dropping is a fairly common problem and one that I see a number of tour companies struggling with. A possible solution? Increasing the number of tailored itineraries and tour packages to incentivize would-be travelers.

The Smart Tour Operators Solution

Many small tour operators think online bookings are the answer, but they’ve got to be aware that it’s a crowded marketplace. Can you compete with the power of Expedia’s Google advertising, or their discounting ability? A successful tour operator needs a strong point of difference to competitors and tailor-made packages can offer this.

If custom itineraries sound labor intensive, there’s travel software available to save you time and ensure your business is profitable. It’s also capable of effectively handling online bookings, introducing further cost savings.