Over 30 Percent of Aussies Can’t Afford to Travel Overseas: Research

Traveller taking in the view on the Marions lookout trail in Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania, Australia. (Blue Planet Studio/Adobe Stock)

Rising living costs and soaring airfares have left one in three Australians unable to afford to travel overseas.

New research by price comparison website Finder has found that only about a quarter of Australians can now afford to travel for a holiday, with many cutting back on spending in order to enjoy it.

The survey of 1,079 respondents revealed travelling abroad has become unaffordable for 37 percent of Australians–equivalent to 7.5 million people while travelling overseas is almost out of reach for 23 percent.

“The rising cost of living is impacting everything from groceries to petrol, and flights are no exception,” said Finder’s travel insurance expert James Martin.

“Discretionary spending is taking a back seat as many look for ways to cut back.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), there were 1,324,360 overseas departures in March—a monthly increase of 255,950 trips and a yearly increase of 989,120 trips.

Nevertheless, February saw only 1,068,410 departures, a monthly decrease of 308,440 trips.

Qantas planes lined up at Melbourne's international airport on Feb. 22, 2021. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

Martin advises people to plan overseas holidays five years in advance and not to travel if they cannot afford overseas travel insurance.

“If you can’t afford to insure your trip, you can’t afford to take the holiday,” he said.

The expert also recommends using rewards points to buy domestic flights to save money.

“Book in advance, travel off-peak and keep tabs for airfare sales to secure the cheapest international flights.”

In the 2017-18 financial year, flights from Melbourne to London, one of the most popular destinations for Australians, cost an average of AU$1412 (US$956.50). The ticket prices have nearly doubled now to an average of $2,677.

Expert: Airlines Still Recovering From COVID-19

The results of the survey did not surprise Gabby Walters, an Associate Professor in tourism at the University of Queensland.

“People don’t need to travel, and so it’s going to be something that they’ll definitely reconsider because their wages, income, and discretionary income, for that matter, is significantly less due to the rising cost of living,” Walters told The New Daily.

Walters said the underlying reason for soaring flight ticket prices is that fuel costs have increased. In addition, airlines are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Now, certain routes would be impacted worse than others, so when you think about the UK, their borders didn’t close. You think about the U.S.; their borders didn’t close,” she said.

“Australia, we were a fortress. Our borders were closed for a good part of two years. So we, as a nation, are heavily impacted by this because it’s not only people leaving the country, it’s also people coming to the country.”

A view of Howard Springs Quarantine Facility as eight repatriation flights have been arranged to help Australians stuck overseas due to the COVID-19 pandemic and border closures return home in Darwin, Australia, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Lisa McTiernan/Getty Images)

The latest figures from the ABS show that the country’s annual inflation rate hit 6.8 percent in the year ended April, up from 6.3 percent.

However, Treasurer Jim Chalmers insisted the peak of inflation was over.

“It’s really clear that inflation peaked in our economy around Christmas time,” he told ABC Radio.

“It’s been moderating since then, not as fast as we would like. It is more persistent than we want it to be.”