With Australia’s borders reopening to international visitors from Monday, the prospect of a long-awaited overseas trip is closer than ever.
For the first time in two years, fully vaccinated travellers are allowed to travel our great shores, spurring more Aussies to search for their own overseas adventures.
Accommodation website Airbnb revealed this week the most searched for destination by Australians since November last year was London.
Old favourite Bali came in second in the most popular cities category, followed by New York, Paris and Los Angeles.
In terms of whole countries, Australians were most keen to get back to the US, with Hawaii coming third in popularity behind New York and LA for top destinations.
Countries most of interest after the US were the UK, Italy, France, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, Indonesia, Thailand and Greece.
There are also plenty of people around the world looking to take a trip Down Under.
Since the announcement on 8 February that Australia’s borders would reopen, the most searches for destinations in Australia have originated from England.
In the 48 hours following the announcement, Sydney was the number one destination searched for by overseas users of the website, followed by Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth.
After the UK, the countries with the highest volume of searches for rentals in Australia were the United States, Singapore, New Zealand and Canada.
As well as the capital cities, overseas travellers showed the most interest in the Sunshine Coast, the Great Ocean Road, Byron Bay and Mornington Peninsula.
Airbnb country manager for Australia and New Zealand Susan Wheeldon said the return of international visitors was welcome news for all Aussies, particularly those with properties listed on the website.
“This is the moment we’ve all been patiently waiting for after two years of disconnection with friends and loved ones,” Ms Wheeldon said.
“What we are seeing from our international guests is enthusiasm to book trips in Australia from cities and countries all over the world, from old friends in the US and UK, to places like Seoul, Dublin and closer to home in places like Jakarta and New Zealand.”
Ms Wheeldon said pandemic-driven work from home arrangements were expected to result in more people taking on the nomad lifestyle.
“The pandemic and the rise of remote and hybrid work have untetxjmtzywhered many from offices and for the first time millions of people can now live anywhere,” she said.
Airbnb hosts have earned a total of $150 billion USD globally since 2010.
