'Travel is resilient': retirees driving holiday growth

Résumé détaillé

Australia's biggest travel company says that while higher interest rates are making big-ticket holidays less affordable for families, others are still keen.

Higher interest rates may be making big-ticket holidays less affordable for Australian families, but overall leisure travel is continuing to perform well, a leading travel business says.

Flight Centre Travel Group chief executive and founder Graham "Skroo" Turner told the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday that independent retirees and those that were mortgage-free were prioritising travel, particularly to the UK and USA.

Value destinations such as Vietnam and Bali were also seeing solid growth and the group's new points program, World360 Rewards, seems to be working.

Cruise sales are also growing strongly as Flight Centre focuses on what Mr Turner described as a highly attractive sector.

The company's cruise division, My Cruises, has chartered a small luxury cruise ship that set sail from Rome in September on a 12-month cruise.

"I think they're in Norway at the moment," Mr Turner told the meeting.

About 85 per cent of the cruise's year one itineraries are now sold, along with 35 per cent of year two.

Flight Centre Group booked $12.6 billion in leisure travel in 2025/26, up 7.4 per cent from a year ago.

This financial year the company is on track to eclipse its 2018/19 milestone of $13.1 billion in leisure travel bookings.

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