Besides eating chocolate and going on holidays, Australians will be focusing on DIY projects, spending $6.4 billion on painting, gardening and small home (décor) improvements as well as clothing and personalised gifts.
DIYs around the house are particularly popular for green thumbs over Easter, says Australian Retailers Association (ARA) CEO, Paul Zahra.
“It’s the final break many people will have before winter sets in and people who aren’t travelling traditionally use this time to upgrade the home and tackle jobs they’ve been putting off for months due to their busy schedules,” he says.
“Avid decorators, gardeners and home enthusiasts are tipped to spend $6.4 billion nationwide, which is a massive share of Easter expenditure and rivals the total spend on domestic travel.”
Holidaymakers are set to spend more than $9.1 billion on travel this year, up $2 billion on Easter 2022 (up 28 per cent), as the tourism industry experiences a resurgence after years of crippling lockdowns and restrictions.
“Local retailers in popular holiday destinations will reap the benefits of the resurgence in domestic tourism this year,” adds Zahra.
Indeed, research from the ARA and Roy Morgan indicates that of the Australians going away this Easter, 61 per cent will travel within their own state, 30 per cent will go interstate and nine per cent overseas.
“Whilst about 28 per cent of the travel spend is being directed overseas, the majority of travel spend will be local―more than 90 per cent of the Australians who are holidaying are travelling domestically, so we’re retaining a good portion of this economic stimulation.
“While our borders have been reopened for some time, we’re starting to see the cost of travel stabilise, which is potentially prompting a lot of families to plan their first getaways in some time this Easter. This will be music to the ears of travel retailers, particularly in our major airports,” he says.
