Overseas holidays up and away

Overseas holidays up and away

Times are great for airlines, but not for tourism at ground level. New figures show there was virtually no growth last year in the number of Australians taking domestic holidays - but that there was a 26 per cent jump in the number flying overseas.

Figures released by Tourism Research Australia show that, while Australians are holidaying overseas in numbers never seen before, it has been at the cost of local tourism. Overnight trips within Australia rose by just 0.4 per cent in the year to September, as Australians profited from the higher dollar to head overseas.