Which nationality spends the most on travelling?

To me this is no surprise, but Australian spend more on travelling then anyone else (US$3636 per trip), and they are clearly ahead (approximately 15%!)(MISSING) of the next highest spender, the people of Saudi Arabia (US$3129 per trip). The global average is US$1481 per trip.

I'd reckon the reasons for this are several. Firstly, Australians love the outdoors and like to explore and thus are more likely to want to spend their money seeing new places and enjoying new experiences rather than spending extra monies on extra renovations for the house (for example).

Secondly, because Australia is so far away from everything else, once we leave these shores, it is more cost-effective to stay away for longer, and the longer you stay away, the more you spend. Australians don't fly to Europe for a weekend or even a week, it isn't worth the time and expense for such a long trip (20 hours of flying). So instead a journey to Europe is a minimum four week trip at the very least, and most likely longer. Same applies to any journey to Africa and the Americas. The only people I know who take less than three-four weeks of leave when travelling overseas are those either heading to New Zealand, Pacific Islands or Asia.

Third (and very importantly), Australians have generous leave entitlements - minimum four weeks leave per year, with longer for those who stay 10 years with one employer who then earn an extra 90 calendar days of leave, which increases by another 9 days every year. Employees can also avail themselves of leave at half pay or no pay in order to have a very extended break - with the security of knowing that their job is waiting for them upon their return.

Fourthly, Australia is a very multi-cultural country, so it is not uncommon for people to return to the country of their birth every few years for a reunion with family and friends.

The only caveat I'd put on this survey is the absence of the participants from Scandinavian countries, as they also can receive generous leave entitlements. However, I don't think they would alter the top two positions as most travel would be closer to home and thus spending less. New Zealanders are also absent, so not sure how they would fit the list, but would imagine they would be closer to the top.

More can be read here: The Visa Global Travel Intentions Survey 2011

Would love to hear other people's opinions on this survey re its accuracy or its findings.

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Shane,
You are right about Scandinavians receiving generous leave entitlements. While vacationing in Railey Beach in southern Thailand I met a Danish family with two small children, a month old and three years old. After each of their children they both received three months maternity/paternity leave, and each time they spent three months traveling to Asia...none of this hanging around the house and getting used to the new baby! Reply to this

"Travel Style: Almost half of all those surveyed (47 percent) said they intend to arrange their trips themselves by booking directly with hotels and airlines. Flexible individual tours which allow travelers to choose their own activities are the next most preferred way to travel (28 percent), followed by packaged group tours (18 percent). Before leaving for their trip, global travelers are most likely to get their travel information from online sources (55 percent) rather than offline sources (43 percent)."

I wonder if Travelblog members have a similar spread for preferred travel styles. I have tried all three...prefer to arrange them myself but depends on the safety and accessibility issues in various locales. Reply to this

' This is a favourite 2011 TravelBlog discussion. If you have seen some good discussions in 2011, add them to the following thread. 😊

Your 2011 TravelBlog favourites Reply to this

me. oops. Reply to this

I think people of all places travel so much and spend based on income. Reply to this

I totally agreed this topic and australia is the only country which spends lot of money for tour and traveling Reply to this

In response to: Msg #168425

Agreed! :-) Reply to this

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I could feel that its true because Australia is somewhere else on it. The thing is about tourism and what is important to me is knowledge of these things which surely have an impact when you are into traveling professionally or as a hobby. Reply to this