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Due to Australia’s size and relatively low population density, domestic travel for a holiday, business, or visiting family and friends often involves long hours of driving or a domestic airline flight. Nevertheless, in the year ended December 2024, Australians spent millions of nights away from home on domestic travel trips, with the strongest accommodation preference being staying with friends or relatives. The second most popular choice of accommodation was at a hotel, resort, motel, or motor inn.

Urban centers and surfing spots dominate

While Australians enjoy diverse accommodation options, their choice of destinations focuses on major cities and beloved coastal areas. Sydney emerged as the top destination for domestic overnight visitors in 2024, attracting over **** million people. Melbourne and Brisbane also proved popular, along with renowned beach and surfing locations along New South Wales' North and South Coast. Interestingly, Melbourne outpaced Sydney in terms of visitor expenditure, with domestic overnight tourists spending over **** billion Australian dollars in the Victorian capital compared to **** billion in Sydney.

Domestic travel motivations

The primary motivation for domestic overnight travel in Australia was to go on holiday, accounting for almost ** million trips in 2024. The city of Melbourne snatched Sydney's crown for the second year running as the most popular holiday or leisure destination, with Sydney the previous winner in 2022. Visiting family or friends was the next most common reason for domestic overnight travel, with around ** million trips taken. Business trips came in third, followed by uncategorized visit purposes.