In Friday’s post about Cycling in Brisbane I mentioned that I was away on holiday with Mrs Bob and daughter Elizabeth; we spent the week in Singapore.
Of course, this website is about life in Australia so I am not going to tell you too much about what Singapore was like, except that it does have an awful lot of very tall buildings…
International holidays for Australians
What is worth talking about though and of great interest to anyone considering moving to Australia is where do Australians go for their holidays?
I’ve been here for over six years now and my recent break in another country is only the second time I have left Australia for a vacation.
In October 2011 I spent 10 days in Thailand as you will know if you read my post called What is Wrong With BobinOz? I followed that up with Why Most Australians Holiday in Australia a few days later when I guessed at the top three foreign holiday destinations for Aussies, which I felt would be New Zealand, Bali and Thailand.
But where do Australians really go when they want to go abroad?
I decided to do some research and quickly came across an excellent article in The Guardian from December last year in which they listed the top international destinations for Australians in 2013.
The top 10 international holiday destinations for Australians:
- Indonesia
- USA
- New Zealand
- Thailand
- Fiji
- United Kingdom
- Vietnam
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Other Europe
They didn’t just list the top 10 though, their list had 28 destinations in all and much more, including how each country’s popularity has changed since 2000, all wrapped up in a smart info graphic. If you want to know more about how Australians travel abroad for their holidays, I suggest you check out the full article for yourself, it’s called How Australians holiday.
International travel from Australia
When we lived in the UK we used to have at least one international holiday each year, sometimes two or three. That may sound a lot, but we used to routinely pay £50 (about $90 AUD) or less per ticket to travel to quite a number of European destinations.
There is no denying it; it’s harder and more expensive to travel abroad from Australia than it is from the UK, Europe and probably many other countries around the world. If you, like us, enjoy foreign travel, then this will be a downside of moving to Australia.
As big and as beautiful as this country is, there will always be a need to escape now and then to get away from the monopoly of Coles and Woolworths and to enjoy other cultures. I’ve only managed to holiday abroad once every three years so far, but I have enjoyed many domestic holidays here to check out a good number of Australia’s other cities and towns.
I’ve never much been one for going back to the same place, so naturally my options will slowly reduce. I may have to consider upping my rate of one international holiday every three years, so I reckon I’ll be bookmarking this post for myself; I think the very long list of popular destinations is going to be quite handy.
Do you like to travel abroad?
Wherever you live, I’d like to hear which places are popular destinations for your holidays? What about those of you who live in the USA, where do you go for your holidays? Or Australians, whether born and bred or recent arrivals, what do you do for your holidays?
Please let me know in the comments below…
Hey Bob, isn’t Singapore richer than Australia?
According to one list I looked at, Singapore is the third richest country in the world, so yes, it is.
Hi Bob,
Am now 18 months in, and thoroughly enjoying the experience. Like you I love to travel, and Aus being so big haven’t started to double back, and not felt the need to leave the country as yet. We have done some good trips, best being SE Qld visiting Fraser Island, Noosa, Lamington National Park (check out O’Reillys, stay in a mountain villa if funds permit!) and finally Gold Coast. Also Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Jervis and Batemans Bay, Melbourne for Lions tour etc. Have booked a trip to Alice Springs, Kings Canyon, Uluru etc. Not been out to Ningaloo, but am heading on a dive trip to Barrier reef in a few weeks. So much to see! Lots of colleagues recommend Fiji for family friendly hols, but too much to see her in my view! Not even done the wine regions around Adelaide! all the best, Andy
Ha ha, that’s funny actually, we’ve done all the places you’ve mentioned except Fiji, the Great Barrier Reef, Ningaloo and Lamington’s National Park. Why it’s funny is because we were talking just the other day of getting a group together to go to O’Reilly’s, but yes, it is rather expensive isn’t it?
My wife wanted to take me there for my birthday this year as well, but I looked at the prices and said “I’m just not worth it!”
I think we were here for four years before we took a holiday abroad, there’s so much to discover here when you first arrive.
Cheers, Bob
Hi Bob,
Not holiday related, I’m afraid, but a quick visa question, and one that I can’t find answered anywhere.
Would a British citizen on the board of directors of an Australian company be entitled to work in Australia (obviously without criminal records etc), or would this still entail the same sponsorship process (presumably 457 visa) as any other employee?
Thanks, Scott
Regards,
I don’t know Scott, you would need to consult a MARA registered migration agent for that one, but my guess is that you would definitely need some kind of working visa in order to work here.
Cheers, Bob
Living in the UK, we holiday very rarely in the UK. That may all change since the birth of our son, but we mainly love America.
Our holidays have recently been:
2004 – Florida
2006 – New York and Florida (two separate holidays)
2007 – Sunny Beach, Bulgaria (what were we thinking?)
2008 – Salou, Spain
2009 – Edinburgh (few days), Prague (few days) and Florida (two weeks)
2010 – Australia, few days in Dubai on the way back
2011 – US road trip (Chicago, Sandusky, Philly, DC, Williamsburg)
2012 – Florida
2013 – a few days in Northumberland
2014 – so far quick trip to Paris
2015… Australia and New Zealand
For us, we love our theme parks. Florida is a nice and relatively easy destination, but we’ve got lots of US road trips planned out. We also do want to go and do more European cities, having started in Paris. We can’t do a holiday and NOT do something.
Then you should build in a few days stop off at Singapore next time you’re passing through and check out their theme parks, we went to Universal Studios and Adventure Cove Water Park over in Sentosa, had a couple of great days out. The Transformers ride is almost certainly the most amazing ride ever. Spectacular!
Anyway, nice list, I never actually made it to Bulgaria but would have liked to, sounds like you’re implying I didn’t miss much 🙂