Japan is proving to be an increasingly popular destination for Australians as travel to the United States remains subdued.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday revealed the top countries for short-term trips in the month of February.
The figures showed New Zealand retained its position as the most popular destination, accounting for 111,310 short-term resident returns, followed by Indonesia on 106,880.
Japan was third, with 97,290 residents returning from the Asian nation in February after a short-trip away, with the month covering the country’s popular ski season.
That was up 35 per cent on February last year, and more than double the 42,280 figure recorded in the same month two years prior.
Demand for Japan travel also shows no signs of waning over the coming months.
“Japan proves to be a firm favourite for Aussie travellers, ranking as the most popular international destination over the April school holidays, overtaking Bali which has long remained at number one,” Expedia travel expert Sarah King revealed to news.com.au earlier this week.
“Not only is the Australian dollar holding strong against the Yen, but we also continue to see competitive flight deals and availability helping to entice Aussie travellers.”
India was fourth on February’s list (83,860 short-term resident returns), then China (70,590), Thailand (46,110) and Vietnam (45,640).
The USA came in at eighth on the list, with 40,690 resident returns, only marginally more than the 40,170 figure recorded in February last year when the country was ranked higher on the list, at sixth.
In January, there were 72,090 resident returns from the USA placing it third on the list, with 52,560 in December (fourth on the list) and 58,360 in November (also fourth on the list).
David Beirman, a tourism lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney, told The Australian the perception the US was not willing to work with the rest of the world in a harmonious way had led to “people thinking twice about whether they want to travel to the States”.
“Perception is such an important part of tourism, and right now attitudes towards the US are very negative,” he said.
A poor exchange rate has also been attributed to sluggish demand for the United States.
“The US is unfortunately going to have some structural issues and I think with the fall of the dollar, that’s going to have a bigger impact on forward sales now, probably for the remainder of the year,” Australian Travel Industry Association chief executive Dean Long told The Australian.
AloJapan.com