Looking back on 2025, how did visitor numbers perform?
It was a particularly strong year for visitation to Australia from the UK, thanks to the two big sporting series that we hosted: the Lions Rugby tour mid-year and the Ashes series that ended in early January 2026.
As multi-state events that visitors will follow around the country, they are both big drivers for attracting sports fans, so to have had both take place in Australia in the same year had a significant impact.
We leveraged both (sporting events) by creating engaging content that used talent associated with them – George North (ex-rugby player) for the Lions tour and then Stuart Broad (ex-cricketer) for our Ashes content. We showcased some of the best of Australia through their experiences and hope this will have an ongoing impact that continues this year.
What are your hopes and plans for 2026?
The 10-year run of major sporting events taking place in Australia leading up to the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, that we’re calling The Decade of Green and Gold, will continue with the Rugby World Cup taking place in Australia in 2027.
So, we’ll be looking to leverage that event, with tickets due to go on sale this month (February). Elsewhere, we are looking for ways to tell stories that we know resonate with travellers – in particular focusing on our unique wildlife, our world-class food and drink and our Indigenous history.
How will you continue to work with and prioritise agent partners?
The Aussie Specialist Programme remains the bedrock of our agency engagement initiatives, equipping agents with tools and insights to help them get the best outcome when selling an Australian holiday.
We continue to update and evolve the content in that programme so that it’s always relevant. We also maintain a busy calendar of training roadshows across the UK and Europe, offering agents time with our team directly. That gives them the chance to hear from us first-hand and grow their own knowledge even further.
What booking trends are you seeing for this year?
Like many long-haul destinations, we continue to see travellers wanting to make the most out of any journey. From the UK we know visitors stay longer, disperse further and spend more than most of our other international markets.
As part of the broader slower travel trend, we’ve seen increased demand for road trips and rail journeys, as visitors seek to take in our vast and varied landscapes while they travel from region to region.
We also continue to see increased demand for authentic Indigenous experiences; we encourage any visitor to Australia to take the time to do one of these.
What are your selling tips for 2026, taking into account anything that might be new?
I would say it doesn’t hurt to lean into the things that we know Australia offers in abundance, such as our beach-loving culture, our unique wildlife and our vast arrange of incredible landscapes, but I think some of our lesser-known selling points can be draw cards too.
Our food and drink scenes are world-class and so varied across the country, with our vast array of native ingredients offering culinary experiences from fine dining to street food and everything in between.
What makes Australia a destination with timeless appeal?
Australia is a country that is constantly changing but I think the enduring appeal of Australia comes from the characteristic that underpins it still: that is our warm and welcoming nature, that comes with a genuine ‘G’day’
I think our laid-back approach to life and how we embrace an outdoors way of life also holds appeal for travellers coming to take time out from their busy lives.
They can experience this whether they are staying in our luxury lodges and enjoying our most premium experiences or just hitting the road and making a slow journey through our cities and regional and upcountry areas.
Regardless of where your travels take you here, the Australian way of life holds the same appeal.
