HERVEY BAY has become one of the most popular searched for Aussie destinations since COVID-19 put the brakes on international travel.
It’s difficult to think that this Saturday will be one year since Australia closed its borders to international visitors and overseas travel.
The past 12 months have been a tumultuous time for the travel industry to say the least, but it has also prompted people to explore their own backyard and look for domestic travel options when state borders re-opened.
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International online travel booking website Booking.com listed Hervey Bay in its top ten trending domestic destinations for February 2021.
To make the trending list, Hervey Bay had to feature in the top 100 searched for destinations in Australia in February 2021 and had to have moved up at least 10 places in comparison to the same period the year before.
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The whale watching capital of the world featured third on the list – behind Hamilton Island (1) and Pokolbin (2) in New South Wales.
The top ten trending domestic tourism destinations in February 2021 according to Booking.com is reflected below:
- Hamilton Island
- Pokolbin
- Hervey Bay
- Forster
- Bright
- Maroochydore
- Yamba
- Terrigal
- Mudgee
- Huskisson
The top 20 most searched destinations for February 2021:
- Gold Coast
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Brisbane
- Perth
- Adelaide
- Canberra
- Byron Bay
- Noosa Heads
- Cairns
- Hobart
- Port Douglas
- Airlie Beach
- Port Macquarie
- Coffs Harbour
- Newcastle
- Hamilton Island
- Darwin
- Nelson Bay
- Mooloolaba
The list looked looks very different when compared to the top twenty most searched destinations in February 2020, which included international destinations:
- Sydney
- Melbourne
- Gold Coast
- Brisbane
- Perth
- Adelaide
- Seminyak
- Canberra
- Hobart
- Cairns
- Singapore
- Byron Bay
- London
- Legian
- Tokyo
- Ubud
- Kuta
- Noosa Heads
- Queenstown
- New York
Booking.com said international options that obviously fell off the list were replaced by classic Australian destinations.
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Meanwhile, Booking.com listed Hervey Bay as the third most welcoming destination in Australia earlier this year.
Torquay Beach was included in Surf Life Saving Queensland’s top ten beaches for the year, while Wotif named Hervey Bay as the seventh most popular Aussie tourist town for 2021.
The website also ranked WetSide Water Park as the best water park / amusement park in Australia.
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