Have you heard of Travel Tuesday? Following on from the success of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the latest entrant in the calendar category is a day that shoppers can find deals on travel purchases, such as hotel stays or airline flights.

According to the New York Times the online-booking platform Hopper first popularised the Travel Tuesday concept in 2017, when it picked up on the trend of flights being particularly affordable on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States.

A report published by McKinsey & Company, titled Travel Tuesday is Real — and Growing shows search interest in ‘Travel Tuesday’ rose more than 500 per cent from 2021 to 2023.

Searches were highest among American and Canadian consumers, but interest is also rising in Australia, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Spain.

Google Trends shows searches for ‘Travel Tuesday’ dropped off during the pandemic, but rose sharply in 2022 and 2023, mostly in North America, Western Europe and Australia.

Many Australian airlines, travel websites, holiday parks and visitor experiences embraced the trend on 3 December 2024, a sign that interest in Travel Tuesday will continue to grow outside the United States.

Research from Roy Morgan predicted Australians would spent a record $6.7 million during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales window (29 November to 2 December 2024), an increase of 5.5 per cent compared to the same time last year. 

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increased 2.7pts to 88.4 this week and has reached its highest level for 2.5 years since May 2022. Consumer Confidence is now 12 points above the same week a year ago, November 27 – December 3, 2023 (76.4), and 5.6 points above the 2024 weekly average of 82.8.

ANZ Economist Sophia Angala said there was a significant boost to buying intentions this week as the annual Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales period led to an increase in buying sentiment with nearly a third of Australians (31 per cent).