It's a universally acknowledged truth that Australians really, really like to travel. Our vast island home is obviously incredible, but given its geographic isolation, Aussies often get the itch to board a horrendously long flight and discover what else lies out there beyond the big, big blue. The question remains, though: Which countries do most Australians actually go to? And what are the ones we tend to stay away from?
An answer to this has finally come, courtesy of the federal Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and a lengthy, critical report created by Forward Travel. Analysing the DHA's records of the millions of overseas departures made by Australians over the past five years, Forward Travel has combed through and revealed an interesting story about what Aussies evidently look for, and what they don't, when picking a foreign nation for an international holiday.
To boil it down, the travel data shows off the places where, if you go as an Aussie, you'll either feel like an iconic, rare superstar (hello, Caribbean) or just another tourist who may make someone sigh at the normalcy of it all (hi, Kuta). Either way is fine, but at least now, you know.
Australia's 10 most popular travel destinations from 2021-25
- Indonesia
- Singapore
- New Zealand
- United Arab Emirates
- Fiji
- USA
- Japan
- Thailand
- Malaysia
- Vietnam
Australia's 10 least popular travel destinations from 2021-25
- El Salvador
- Jamaica, Moldova and Senegal
- Samoa
- Lithuania and Zambia
- Reunion
- Bhutan, Burundi, Guatemala, Guinea, Turkmenistan
- Luxembourg, Micronesia, Rwanda
- Bahrain, Republic of Condo, Panama
- Angola, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mauritania
- Lberia
With political instability, COVID and geographical proximity all playing a part in making these rankings, it's interesting to see where Australians like to flock (and not). Check out Forward Travel's report to see the top and bottom 20 destinations for Aussie travel-seekers from 2021 to 2025 here.