6.8 million short-term trips were taken by Australians in the 2009/10 financial year, a record number according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This is an increase of one million from the previous year, and continues a recent trend of more Australian residents departing than visitors arriving to our country. This has been the case since 2007/08 and is attributed to more affordable overseas flights, and the strength of the Aussie dollar.

The ABS report stated the average duration was 15 days.

Breaking down the figures the report showed that over half (55%) traveled overseas for a holiday, visiting friends and relatives was the reason 24% of trips were made, and business represented 11% of departures.

The Newsport article '<link oz-holidays-too-expensive.4398.0.html tracked>Oz holidays too expensive?' from 5 August drew on comments from people stating that Australia was too expensive and offered poor service, which may contribute to the large number of Australians heading overseas for their break.

<link oz-holidays-too-expensive.4398.0.html tracked>Have a read and let us know your thoughts.