Travel surge expected this winter as overseas holiday bookings accelerate
Aussies are heading overseas in huge numbers and travel booking company Webjet is expecting another
travel
surge this July holidays - so book early.
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9 News
an hour ago
- 9 News
The latest travel advice for Australia's favourite travel destinations
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Australians are heading overseas for a holiday in record numbers. From tranquil beach destinations like Bali to the countryside of New Zealand, buzzing US cities to the culture of Vietnam, Aussies can't wait to get away. But whether travelling for pleasure or to see family, it's essential to heed official advice We've collated the latest alerts from the Australian Government's Smartraveller site for the most popular destinations Aussies are heading to, according to the latest ABS data. New Zealand is the most popular destination for Aussies, the latest numbers show. A short flight away, the nation is famous for its exhilarating adventure activities including skiing. Experts give it the green light, saying to "exercise normal safety precautions". New Zealand is the most popular destination for Aussies the latest numbers show. (Getty) However, it notes the nation can experience earthquakes and tsunamis and has active volcanoes. It also says weather can change quickly and warns hikers to carry an emergency locator beacon. The latest advice was updated on March 17, 2025. Indonesia, is one of the most popular places for Aussies to go, likely for the popular island of Bali. But visitors should "exercise a high degree of caution". These related to drownings and drinking. Indonesia, is one of the most popular places for Aussies to go, likely for the popular island of Bali. (Getty) It warns many Aussies have drowned due to rough seas and strong currents. It also says methanol poisoning from alcohol can happen. Travellers are also warned to make sure their passports are in pristine condition or they may be turned away. Aussies are urged to read up on the Bali Provincial Government's list of "do's and don'ts". There is also an ongoing risk of terror attacks, demonstrations can also be hazardous, and petty crime is an issue. A warning over the safety of some ferries is also listed. If you're heading to take in the culture food and shopping Japan is famous for, there are few warnings in place. That's unless you plan to go to the restricted areas near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, in which cause you should Reconsider your need to travel However, the nation does get earthquakes and tsunamis, Smartraveller says. Sign up for local alerts , the government says. Plus the security situation, including with North Korea, could worsen, experts say. If you're heading to take in the culture food and shopping Japan is famous for, there are few warnings in place. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Drink spiking and petty theft is also possible. Advice was updated on March 14, 2025. Updated advice was issued for Aussies going to the the United States of America on May 6, 2025. While it remains a 'green' country, with the official line "exercise normal safety precautions," there are things to remember. "Entry requirements are strict," Smartraveller says. "US authorities have broad powers to decide if you're eligible to enter and may determine that you are inadmissible for any reason under US law. "Check US entry, registration, transit and exit requirements. "Whether you're travelling on a visa or under the Visa Waiver Program, ensure you understand all relevant terms and conditions before attempting to enter the United States." The government also warns to avoid demonstrations and protests and notes violent crime, terror attacks gun crime are a threat. Severe weather and natural hazards such as earthquakes are also possible. New York City in the USA, a popular destination for holidays. (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Tens of thousands of people from India live in Australia, and it's also a holiday bucket list place for many. Overall it's a "yellow" country where Aussies should 'exercise a high degree of caution.' That's due to the threat of terrorism, crime and civil unrest, Smartraveller advices. Crowed places should be avoided because people have been killed in stampedes. Women may face harassment or sexual assault and shouldn't travel alone, the government says. Spiked drinks and food are also a risk, as are scams and petty theft. Aussies should also "reconsider' travelling to the Attari-Wagah border crossing, Chhattisgarh, border areas of Nagaland, and parts of Assam. A high number of immigrants from India live in Australia, and it's also a holiday bucket list place for many. (Getty) The advice was updated on 12 May 2025. Thailand has risks to do with safety and security, making it country where Aussies should "exercise a high degree of caution." Some risks relate to the earthquake in nearby Myanmar earlier this year. Tremors continue as do assessments of the structural integrity of buildings, Smartraveller warns. Other risks include scams, terrorist attacks, sexual assault, road accidents, robbery and drink spiking. Thailand has risks to do with safety and security, making it country where Aussies should "exercise a high degree of caution." (Getty) Travel to Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat provinces should be reconsidered. Aussies must now complete a Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC). The advice was updated on 30 May 2025. Vietnam has the green light for travel: exercise normal levels of precaution. In advice updated on 15 May 2025 Smartraveller notes Aussies need to apply for a visa before going. However, road accidents, sexual assaults and petty theft including bag 'slashing' are common. Vietnam has the green light for travel: exercise normal levels of precaution. (Getty) "To make bags and backpacks more difficult to steal, hold them in front of you or on the opposite side of the traffic. Be aware of motorbikes approaching as you walk.," Smartraveller advises. Official advice for China , which is famous for ancient sites like the Great Wall of China, advises a "high degree of caution". "As previously advised, authorities have detained foreigners on the grounds of 'endangering national security'" Smartraveller says. "Australians may be at risk of arbitrary detention or harsh enforcement of local laws, including broadly defined National Security Laws." Official advice for China advises a "high degree of caution". (Getty Images/iStockphoto) Scams and petty crime are common. Aussies should avoid protests- including taking photos and videos. You can only travel to Tibet as part of an organised tour, it notes. The advice was updated on 11 April 2025. The island nation is a popular stopover and holiday destination. Aussies should exercise normal precautions , Smartraveller says. Do be aware of the advice, which was updated on 22 April 2025. The island nation of Singpore is a popular stopover and holiday destination. (Getty) Scammers who call or send texts and pretend to be government officials, banks or telecommunications companies have been reported. Terrorism is also a possible threat in Singapore . The increasingly popular destination of the Philippines carries a yellow warning: exercise a high level of caution. That's due to the to the threat of terrorism as well as violent crime. Some areas carry a red "do not travel warning": central and western Mindanao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula; the Sulu Archipelago and the southern Sulu Sea area. The increasingly popular destination of the Philippines (Getty) "Don't travel by boat" in the southern Philippines, the government advises. The update was made on 28 March 2025. CONTACT US Property News: The last inner Sydney suburbs where houses cost under $2m.
News.com.au
20 hours ago
- News.com.au
Trafalgar European tour: Highlights and mistakes to avoid abroad
There are some things you simply shouldn't do when you're in a tour group, with one of the biggest being a last-minute change of mind. That's according to Paul Wormsbaecher, who's been a tour guide for 23 years. And it's probably fair to say he's seen it all. Paul works as a travel director at Trafalgar, a company that offers guided trips to nearly 100 countries. Trafalgar has been around for decades, a way to see lots of sights but also travel in style. After I signed up to its Bohemian highlights tour – 13 days of feasts, sprawling palaces and historical sites in Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic – I learnt my own mother had also gone on a European Trafalgar trip in the 1990s. On my trip, there were Aussies, Americans, Canadians and Kiwis (plus one Singaporean couple). A young Aussie couple had just got engaged while another pair were newly retired. One guy was in his 80s who needed walking sticks and then there was a young guy who runs marathons in his spare time. It was a real mix. Some of the perks An iconic Trafalgar-branded bus takes you wherever you need to go (which felt like a second home by the end) and some people didn't even know the names of the hotels we were staying at (although I wouldn't recommend that). When it comes to luggage – you don't need to carry your bags. Like at all. The only time I ever had to lug my 15kg bag around was to and from the start and end point. You simply put your bag outside your room on a travel day, and it will be loaded into the bus. When you arrive from a destination, porters will take it to your room. And that's because, as I soon learned, a tour like this is designed to make everything as smooth as possible but still at an affordable price. 'That's the joy. You're being taken with a local specialist, without having to worry about queues, or if there's a problem with the food. It makes the vacation so much easier,' Paul said. But even though Trafalgar makes it a very smooth, action-packed holiday, Paul says that's no excuse not to make an effort with the locals. He recommends that 'you know some of the important words, even if you don't remember, it's good to at least try. Even though you might not sound Hungarian. And that goes everywhere in Europe, it goes a long way to say thank you and please.' What not to do There was a bit of a social gaffe I learned I'd been making the whole time. 'Don't call a Hungarian an Eastern European. They won't talk to you for a week,' I was eventually warned. Oops. Another one? 'Don't bring food out of the hotel breakfast,' he said. Oops again. But by far the biggest mistake Paul has seen on his years of tours is lack of research. 'If you don't want to do the optionals, don't come all this way and be disorganised,' he explained. Optionals is exactly what it sounds like – Trafalgar has some set activities on each tour, but then you can opt in for some of the extras. At each city we visited, we had one included group dinner as well as a local expert who took us on a walking tour to the most iconic spots to give us the lay of the land (think East Side Gallery in Berlin, what was left of the Warsaw Ghetto in Warsaw, the Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest). But there are some bonuses which tour guests have to pay more for, like an all-you-can-eat dinner on a leisurely boat cruise down the Danube River, or visiting the famous Wieliczka Salt Mine deep underground in southern Poland, which some people now use as a wedding venue. Another highlight I'm pretty sure every person signed up for was a skip the queue ticket to the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. But the main mistake people make, according to Paul, is trying to save money and miss out on experiences. He sees it over and over again. Sometimes guests won't have planned anything else and ask Paul if they can join in the end. He does what he can but said sometimes it's not possible – and the tour attendees have got angry as a result. I did hear of one couple who ended up staying in their hotel room while the rest of us went and did a trip to a quaint little town outside of Budapest. Trafalgar likes to add personal touches. During the tour, Paul bought everyone fried cheese dumplings at a Polish market after a long day of travel and had doughnuts waiting for us when we were in minus 1 degree weather. I later learned that Trafalgar gave Paul an allowance, and it was at his discretion where he wanted to spend it to uplift the trip. 'Trafalgar is good at tweaking things,' Paul added. 'They try not to let things be too stale. They try to keep up to date with trends.' Paul is also tight-lipped about which nationalities he finds the easiest to tour with, and also was cagey about which European cities he likes the most. 'It's very difficult when people ask what's your favourite,' he said. 'I really enjoy these cities. Every one has something different about them. You have to look beyond the tourist aspect: the cuisine of the place. Or the natural beauty. It might be beautiful scenery.' A dual German and South African citizen, Paul spends half the year in Europe working for Trafalgar, and the other half in South Africa running his own tours. It's a lifestyle most Australians could only dream of. But sometimes it's far from an easy job. 'Be considerate of the people around you,' Paul said. 'You're in a group environment. The best way for getting along, is to be all considerate of one another. That makes a huge difference. 'Tour guides are very competitive. We want our guests to have the best time and get our guests in first (to tourist attractions) … So don't be late.' After introducing himself and explaining how the Bohemian Highlights tour would work, Paul set a pretty clear ground rule. Don't talk about politics. Paul said he 'never used to have to do that'. But he felt compelled to because of the 'current political environment'. 'It can get ugly.' He said on one tour, he had one guest wearing a MAGA cap. 'I went and bought another cap,' Paul said. Paul has travelled to more than 70 countries, a lot of them through his work, and he even used to run tours in Russia – though he can't do that anymore for obvious reasons. As a seasoned traveller, I ask Paul for his own travel advice. 'If I have two weeks off (between tours), I cannot sit at home for two weeks,' he said. 'A couple of days before (the new tour starts), I go to a new city. 'I practice what I preach. When I go to a place, I do it all. There's going to be things I don't like.' But he says he tries it anyway. There's still a few pockets of Europe he hasn't been to, like Macedonia. 'That's on my list,' Paul continued. He says he likes to make his mind up once he's had a chance to get there. 'I'm pretty organised but I don't do too much research. I like to delve in when I arrive,' he explained. 'I like to talk to the bellboy and the porter. I always say don't send me to where there are 15 million tourists. I want to go where you take your wife.' When he goes travelling with friends, he invariably ends up parting ways and doing his own thing. 'I get to a point where I have to leave them if they're faffing around,' he said. In the past there's sometimes been as little as a few days between one tour ending and the next starting. But now he does closer to one tour a month. The serial traveller got his start in his mid-20s. Paul was bored of working in hotels and spotted an advertisement to become a tour guide for Contiki, a sister company of Trafalgar renowned for being a rite of passage for young Australians. After eight years of Contiki – and joking he was getting too old for it – Paul nabbed a job in Trafalgar. That was more than a decade ago. For years, he lived out of a suitcase. 'I felt it would be nice to have a home base eventually,' he said. 'It was too much. I've got boxes of stuff in random places. There comes a point where living in hotels gets too much, then you're not distinguishing between work and rest.' Only during the Covid-19 lockdowns did Paul catch up on years' worth of rest. He returned to South Africa and ended up meeting his current partner – something he said was near impossible when he was constantly on the move. They are now engaged.
News.com.au
2 days ago
- News.com.au
More people taking sick leave as Australia braces for ‘nasty' flu season and new Covid strain
The number of Aussies taking sick leave has sharply risen as a new Covid subvariant takes hold and the country braces for a 'nasty' winter flu season. can reveal telehealth sick note provider Sicky reported a 108 per cent year-on-year increase in flu-related sick leave requests in March and April, and a 24 per cent rise in Covid-related sick leave requests. Pharmacist Avinash Vazirani, who co-founded Sicky, told us the company had seen an 11 per cent increase in sick certificate requests tied to travel-related flu and Covid cases compared to the same time last year. 'Travel is back in full swing, which is great news for the soul, but it also comes with a few risks,' he said. 'When you board a plane, you're stepping into a confined environment for hours with recirculated air and shared surfaces. That's the perfect storm for transmissible illnesses like Covid-19 and the flu.' Mr Vazirani has urged people who have tested positive to Covid before a flight to reconsider their travel plans. His advice for preventive measures on board? 'Wear a well-fitted mask during the flight, especially when you're not eating or drinking, sanitise your hands often, especially after touching common surfaces or using the loo, and avoid touching your face,' he said. Mr Vazirani stressed that being cautious isn't overkill — 'it's just smart travel'. 'Aussies have a reputation for being proactive about their health, and we're lucky to have access to one of the world's best healthcare systems, but that safety net doesn't travel with your suitcase,' he said. 'Overseas, getting sick can mean language barriers, different medication standards, or even no access to medical help at all depending on where you are. Plus, healthcare costs in some countries can be eye-watering.' While Sicky doesn't know if the increase in Covid-related sick note requests is due to the new NB. 1.8.1 Covid variant, because they don't track the exact strain people have, Mr Vazirani said 'pandemic fatigue is real' and people appear to have eased off on habits like hand sanitising and mask-wearing. The NB. 1.8.1 Covid variant has been designated a Variant Under Monitoring (VUM) by the World Health Organisation as the UN agency says 'continued monitoring is essential'. Since first being recognised in January, it has become the dominant strain in Hong Kong and China, and has been increasing in other countries, including across Australia. It was revealed last week wastewater testing estimates 40 per cent of Covid cases in Victoria, and 50 per cent of cases in Western Australia, are a result of NB. 1.8.1. Health authorities are now speaking out with a push for booster jabs. Health Minister Mark Butler has urged older people, in particular, to get vaccinated and younger people to consider getting a booster too. 'This is another member of the big, sprawling Omicron family,' Mr Butler said on Friday. 'This is pretty consistent with patterns we've seen now for a few years, where a new subvariant of Omicron emerges and starts to spread across the world.' Dr Paul Griffin, director of infectious diseases at Mater Health in Brisbane, said NB. 1.8.1 was 'driving up infections and hospitalisations, particularly in Asia and Western Australia'. 'The best way to protect yourself and your family is to get the newest booster which provides very good coverage, is safe, and will reduce the severity of your symptoms if you contract Covid-19,' he said. As for the flu, in the first three months of the year there were 48,586 lab confirmed cases of influenza, according to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance Dashboard. That is compared to 30,492 lab confirmed cases during the same period in 2024. Griffith University virologist Associate Professor Lara Herrero has described this flu season as 'nasty,' urging people to also get their annual flu jab. In Victoria, Western Health Chief Operating Officer John Ferraro confirmed changes have been made at his hospitals in response to increase in transmission of influenza, Covid, RSV and measles. He told 3AW that staff were required to wear surgical masks in all patient facing areas, and visitor restrictions had been introduced that rules patients are allowed two visitors each for up to two hours per day. It came after a Victorian woman called the radio show and told them she could not visit her dad in an unnamed hospital. 'On Sunday we were told that there's Covid in the hospital and that we needed to mask up if we wanted to come visit. Today we were told we're not allowed to visit,' the caller said on Tuesday.
