Australians are choosing to travel to Asia over the US. It's not because of Trump
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week, the number of Australian residents visiting Japan nearly doubled from about 484,000 in 2018-19 to more than 910,000 in 2024-25, making it the third most popular destination for Australian travellers, overtaking the US.
While China, Vietnam and Indonesia also recorded continued growth, with the latter – attracting 1.7 million visitors – remaining Australia's most popular overseas destination, fewer than 750,000 Australian residents chose to travel to the US.
That figure was up on 714,000 the previous financial year but remained lower than the nearly 1.1 million who travelled to the States in 2018-19, before the pandemic.
Australian Travel Industry Association chief executive Dean Long said that while US President Donald Trump had some dampening impact on Australian business travel to the US, there was little effect on visits for leisure.
Loading
'It's not having as big an impact as we originally anticipated,' he said, noting instances of Australians being stopped at the US border were consistent with the pre-Trump era.
'There's definitely been some loss of business events, but in the leisure market, people still want to go do things they can only do in the US.'
Long said the more popular Asian destinations were those where costs had not risen dramatically over the past few years, as well as those that had experienced favourable exchange rate movements.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
32 minutes ago
- ABC News
Workers need six-months notice to end WFH, says union
Your boss has to give you six-months notice if they want you to stop working from home and return to the office. That's the proposal from the Australian Services Union. Its been made to a review the Fair Work Commission is undertaking of the clerks award, which informs the working conditions of millions of Australians, which is being seen as a test case for the broader workforce amid a growing tussle over flexible work.
West Australian
32 minutes ago
- West Australian
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce warns AI could replace work-from-home jobs, urges caution for remote workers
Australia's workplace ombudsman will be asked to support the right to work from home, to stop it from being used by employers to bargain away other rights, amid warnings AI could replace jobs that can be done remotely. The Australian Services Union says it will lodge a submission with the Fair Work Commission to support working from home, where it's possible to do so. 'Working from home is now a permanent feature of the modern Australian workplace, and our submission will make it clear that the location of work does not diminish its value,' union secretary Emeline Gaske said on Monday. Workers have embraced the benefits but are concerned about employers using it as an excuse to cut pay and conditions. 'Our submission will demonstrate the productivity benefits of a remote workforce and will argue that we have to provide the protections that those workers are entitled to,' Ms Gaske said. 'Taking away the right to work from home would be a race to the bottom that will hurt hundreds of thousands of workers, the majority of whom are women across our country, and we will fight it every step of the way,' she said. The union's submission is backed by a survey of 600 workers, more than two-thirds of them women - 98 per cent of whom consider being able to work from home as 'extremely' or 'very important'. But federal Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said workers needed to be careful because jobs that can be done from home could be automated by artificial intelligence tools. 'If your job is a keyboard, yourself and a computer, it's not a myth, AI is coming,' he told Seven's Sunrise program. 'I'd be doing everything in your power to try and keep your jobs because if people can prove they don't need to come to the office then the office can prove that they can be replaced by AI.' Mr Joyce pointed to trades work, such and electricians and plumbers. 'AI won't be able to turn itself into a plumber or itself into an electrician or a chippy, so trades are a place where you can sustain a good level of employment,' he added. 'It ... replaces people but it doesn't have hands and it doesn't have feet - think about it.' Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said repetitive jobs were most under threat from AI. 'What we need to do is make sure that there are good jobs available for Australians in new and emerging industries as well,' she said. 'We've got real capacity to develop some of those AI tools right here. The rise of working from home emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained part of the workforce. The use and application of AI is likely to be a hot topic at the federal government's productivity roundtable beginning in Canberra on Tuesday.
Perth Now
32 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Joyce warns remote work jobs at risk from AI automation
Australia's workplace ombudsman will be asked to support the right to work from home, to stop it from being used by employers to bargain away other rights, amid warnings AI could replace jobs that can be done remotely. The Australian Services Union says it will lodge a submission with the Fair Work Commission to support working from home, where it's possible to do so. 'Working from home is now a permanent feature of the modern Australian workplace, and our submission will make it clear that the location of work does not diminish its value,' union secretary Emeline Gaske said on Monday. Workers have embraced the benefits but are concerned about employers using it as an excuse to cut pay and conditions. 'Our submission will demonstrate the productivity benefits of a remote workforce and will argue that we have to provide the protections that those workers are entitled to,' Ms Gaske said. 'Taking away the right to work from home would be a race to the bottom that will hurt hundreds of thousands of workers, the majority of whom are women across our country, and we will fight it every step of the way,' she said. The union's submission is backed by a survey of 600 workers, more than two-thirds of them women - 98 per cent of whom consider being able to work from home as 'extremely' or 'very important'. But federal Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said workers needed to be careful because jobs that can be done from home could be automated by artificial intelligence tools. 'If your job is a keyboard, yourself and a computer, it's not a myth, AI is coming,' he told Seven's Sunrise program. 'I'd be doing everything in your power to try and keep your jobs because if people can prove they don't need to come to the office then the office can prove that they can be replaced by AI.' Mr Joyce pointed to trades work, such and electricians and plumbers. 'AI won't be able to turn itself into a plumber or itself into an electrician or a chippy, so trades are a place where you can sustain a good level of employment,' he added. 'It ... replaces people but it doesn't have hands and it doesn't have feet - think about it.' Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said repetitive jobs were most under threat from AI. 'What we need to do is make sure that there are good jobs available for Australians in new and emerging industries as well,' she said. 'We've got real capacity to develop some of those AI tools right here. The rise of working from home emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained part of the workforce. The use and application of AI is likely to be a hot topic at the federal government's productivity roundtable beginning in Canberra on Tuesday.
