Travelling nicely on flights of fancy

Angkor Wat in Cambodia... an increasingly popular destination for Australian travellers. Picture: Flydine/Flickr

THE tyranny of distance that once defined Australia is no more - killed off by cheap flights, the soaring dollar and a "connectedness" with Asia.

The number of overseas trips taken by Australians has more than doubled in 10 years.
Analysis by The Daily Telegraph reveals nearly eight million overseas trips by Australians in the 12 months to the end of November 2011 compared with 3.5 million in the year to November 2001.
And we are exploring new destinations, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, with the biggest increases in travel being to locations such as Cambodia (up 372 per cent), China (240 per cent) and Brazil (196 per cent) while travel to the UK, Europe and Canada has waned by comparison.
In the same time the Australian dollar has risen from less than US50c to beyond parity.
It is up 167 per cent against the Vietnamese dong, buys twice as many Indian rupees and Cambodian riels and gets 40 per cent more Brazilian reals and Israeli shekels.
CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said, thanks largely to the mining boom, Australians were overall wealthier now compared to 10 years ago -- creating a "safety blanket" of confidence that jobs would be waiting on their return.
"I think also the clear factor is flights have become cheaper than 10 years ago, especially throughout Asia, and in addition to that the strength of the Australian dollar has made it more attractive to travel overseas," he said.
"The size of the population is also a driver in that there are more people and we're a more multicultural country. We're more knowledgeable of the region, if you go back 10 years ago Australia was not as integrated with Asia as it is now."
Mr Sebastian said the "time factor" was also making short-haul destination across South East Asia more attractive, along with airfares and taxes.
"If you take Heathrow, sure you can get a ticket for $500 but the taxes are something like $900 whereas taxes in Asian airports can be as little as $100."
David Thorne, 26, left Sydney yesterday bound for Bali with his girlfriend Renee Douros to attend a friend's wedding.
"Everything is half of the price it is here," he said.
Steven Ryan, 51, is using his two-week trip to Bangkok to have work done on his teeth.
"Purely and simply, you can solve health problems at a much cheaper price than you can over here," Mr Ryan said.
Harvey World Travel's James Brodie said more airlines, bigger aircraft and the internet had also sent Australians flocking overseas.

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