Wineglass Bay in Tasmania has been voted Australia’s best beach while the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour is the country’s favourite ‘big thing’, according to exclusive research conducted by Nine.
9Travel and Today have joined forces to launch the Aussie Travel Trends Index – a comprehensive survey into the travel habits of Australians.
The research, conducted through the Nine Audience Insights team, looked at where, when and how Australians are travelling, the emerging trends in travel and some key shifts for the future.
The number one beach in Australia, voted for by Nine readers and viewers, was Wineglass Bay in Tasmania. Closely followed by Whitehaven Beach in Queensland, Hyams Beach in NSW and Noosa Beach, Surfers Paradise rounded out the top five. Sydney’s Bondi had only 4% of the Nine audience ranking it as the number one beach destination.
Far North Queensland and Melbourne were the winners when it came to domestic travel, while overwhelmingly Europe was the top overseas holiday destination.
Australians also revealed they were willing to spend up to $5,000 on a domestic holiday and up to $20,000 on an international trip.
When it came to “Big Things” the number one Big Thing was the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, followed by the Big Pineapple then the Big Merino.
The Aussie Travel Trends Index also looked at the best camping spots, the top tourist destination, Australia’s favourite regional town and the best Honeymoon spot.
Director of Nine.com.au Kerri Elstub said: “The Aussie Travel Trends Index highlights all the very best things about our great country – as well as providing valuable insights for our commercial partners. We can tell you exactly how much our audience wants to spend and where.”
Steven Burling, director of morning television, said: “Today viewers are passionate travellers and they particularly love exploring Australia. I know they’ll be intrigued to see where their favourite destinations place on the Aussie Travel Trends Index.”
The research will be rolled out across 9Travel over the next ten weeks – and will be presented on Today in a series of appearances by traveller and presenter Sami Lukis.