• Skyscanner's Travel Trends 2026 report found that 60% of Australians plan to travel internationally in 2026 with January being the peak month for trip research. However, 60% of those surveyed had not yet settled on dates and 40% had not yet settled on destinations at the time of the survey. Two-thirds of Australians (67%) said they're open to lesser-known destinations over famous ones and 55% are willing to shift travel dates to find a better fare. A separate Australian government survey found that about 50% of Australian travelers are drawn to the idea of a "risky" trip — usually meaning unfamiliar food or culture rather than literal danger — and 11% said they would still consider visiting a country under a formal "Do Not Travel" advisory if it looked appealing on social media.
• Travel from Australia to Japan, up 58.1% since 2019, is driven overwhelmingly by currency. The yen has traded near 40-year lows against major currencies (around ¥162 to the U.S. dollar in mid-2026), making accommodation, food, and transport dramatically cheaper for Australian visitors, who also enter visa-free.
• As of July 2026, trips to the U.S. (−32.2% vs. 2019) and the UK (−14.5% vs. 2019) have been declining since 2019 as both are the most expensive, longest-haul options in Australians' top 10; both have lost ground as travelers reallocate toward closer, cheaper Asian destinations amid cost-of-living pressure. Decline in travel to the UK can also be attributed to Middle East airspace disruption, since Gulf carriers handle an outsized share of Australia–Europe connections.
• Vietnam has continued to attract Australian travelers via a 90-day multiple-entry e-visa policy that Vietnam has offered worldwide since August 2023, aggressive route expansion by Vietnam Airlines and VietJet directly serving Australian cities, and a broader "value migration" among cost-conscious Australians, leading them to choose Vietnam over pricier, longer-haul alternatives. This shift accelerated further as Middle East airspace disruption pushed travelers toward destinations seen as more stable and easier to reach without a Gulf transit.
• Kazakhstan is also an emerging destination for Australians, with some reporting increased bookings to Central Asia driven by relaxed visa access and new one-stop flight connections through Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Istanbul as an alternative to increasingly crowded European destinations.

• Jetstar Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas Group, is in the middle of its most aggressive expansion phase in 2026, launching new routes including Melbourne Avalon–Bali (Indonesia) in March 2026; Brisbane–Rarotonga (Cook Islands) in May 2026; Brisbane–Queenstown (New Zealand) in June 2026, and Melbourne–Colombo (Sri Lanka) in August 2026, Australia's only low-cost Sri Lanka route.
• Western Sydney International Airport (WSI) is scheduled to open 25 October 2026 for passenger service; cargo operations at the airport have been running since late July 2026. The airport will operate curfew-free with capacity for up to 10 million passengers annually; this makes it the first Sydney airport not bound by the 11pm–6am curfew that has constrained Kingsford Smith since 1995. Jetstar is the anchor passenger carrier at WSI from day one, and Singapore Airlines begins daily WSI–Singapore Changi flights on 23 November 2026.
• Qantas confirmed in June 2026 that its nonstop "Project Sunrise" flights from Sydney to London will launch in October 2027 — delayed from the originally planned late-2026 window due to Airbus A350-1000ULR delivery timing — with Sydney–New York to follow as the second route on a date still to be announced. The airline also confirmed a new nonstop Sydney–Las Vegas (U.S.) route, launching late December 2026 as a seasonal service running through March 2027.
• Foreign budget carriers are also adding Australian capacity with Scoot having launched new Perth connections beginning 29 June 2026, and AirAsia adding Melbourne as its fourth Australian city with daily flights beginning March 2026, while also upgrading Adelaide to daily service.

South Korea's K-ETA exemption for Australians has been extended through 31 December 2026 as confirmed by Korea's Ministry of Justice on 9 January 2026; this is the 3rd extension. The K-ETA exception lets Australians enter visa-free for stays up to 90 days without the usual electronic travel authorization (ETA), though a mandatory digital e-Arrival Card still applies.

China's visa-free entry for Australians has been extended through 31 December 2026. With this visa-free entry, Australians can enter for up to 30 days for tourism, business, family visits, or transit without a visa, continuing a trial policy first introduced in November 2024.

The Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (TTTA), in place since 1973, lets New Zealand and Australian citizens visit, live, work, and study in each other's country indefinitely without a visa. New Zealand citizens are automatically granted a Special Category Visa on arrival in Australia, with no application, fee, or prior approval needed.

• For June 2026, smaller, faster-growing markets posted the highest annual arrivals – indicating travel to those destinations – on record for visitors from New Zealand. Those destinations include the Cook Islands (116,000), Japan (95,000), the Philippines (64,000), Vietnam (39,000), and Sri Lanka (16,000).
• Travel to Australia, Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Indonesia lead as vacation (holiday) destinations for international travelers from New Zealand, while Australia, India, and China top the list for travelers visiting friends or relatives in the rolling 12 months to 6 September 2026.
• New Zealander travel to the U.S. has fallen sharply, down 17.1% YoY in the rolling 12 months to 6 September 2026. SafeTravel raised its U.S. advisory to Level 2 — "exercise increased caution" — in 2025, a rare step between two traditionally allied countries, after MFAT (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) confirmed several New Zealanders detained at the U.S. border.
• A weakened New Zealand dollar (NZD) is reshaping travel to Australia, significant given Australia is New Zealand's largest outbound market by a wide margin. The NZD fell to a 13-year low against the Australian dollar in 2026. It was predicted that the weaker currency, combined with higher fuel and airfare costs, would dampen growth in travel from New Zealand to Australia — though updated mid-2026 research indicates a possible early turning point for the currency exchange rate.

• Air New Zealand launched a seasonal non-stop Christchurch–Rarotonga (Cook Islands) service on 25 May 2026, the South Island's first-ever direct link to the Cook Islands. It runs up to three times a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays – through 24 October 2026, adding roughly 18,000–19,600 seats across the season and removing the need for South Island travelers to connect via Auckland.
• Christchurch is gaining three new long-haul routes beginning October 2026, as confirmed by Air New Zealand on 20 May 2026: Christchurch–Singapore launches 28 October, Christchurch–Tokyo Narita (Japan) on 28 November, and Christchurch–Perth (Australia) on 30 November, all on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, enabled by 787s returning to service after global engine maintenance disruptions and new 787s entering the fleet. This is Air New Zealand’s largest single expansion of Christchurch's international network in years.
• Air New Zealand will become the first international carrier at the new Western Sydney International Airport (WSI), with the currently planned launching of Auckland–Western Sydney (Australia) flights in October 2026, three times weekly – Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays – on A320/A321neo aircraft, with one-way seat-only fares starting from NZD $319.
• Air New Zealand announced a U.S./Canada capacity expansion to add 34K seats (+8%) in November 2025. However, in February 2026 the carrier said that anticipated U.S.-bound revenue growth "[had] not materialised", a roughly $50 million hit for H1 FY 2026. In addition to declining interest in traveling to the U.S., analysts have also flagged intensifying competition, though Air New Zealand’s North America team says premium-cabin demand remains resilient even as overall leisure volume softens.
• Auckland–Chicago (U.S.) remains paused due to reliability issues with Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines on Air New Zealand's Boeing 787 fleet, the same issue behind the airline's broader capacity constraints; Air New Zealand plans to relaunch once aircraft availability stabilizes. 787 deliveries from late 2026 will carry GE Aerospace engines instead.
• Foreign carriers are also adding Australia-New Zealand (trans-Tasman) capacity from the New Zealand side: Jetstar's new Brisbane–Queenstown route, launched June 2026, gives Queenstown a fourth direct Australia connection.

South Korea's K-ETA exemption for New Zealanders has been extended through 31 December 2026, as confirmed by Korea's Ministry of Justice on 9 January 2026. The K-ETA exception lets New Zealanders enter visa-free for stays up to 90 days without the usual electronic travel authorization (ETA), though a mandatory digital e-Arrival Card still applies.

China's visa-free entry for New Zealanders has also been extended through 31 December 2026, per the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand. With this visa-free entry, New Zealanders can enter for up to 30 days for tourism, business, family visits, or transit without a visa, continuing a policy first introduced for New Zealand passport holders in July 2024.

Sri Lanka, one of New Zealand’s newer record-arrival destinations, waived its tourist ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) fee for 40 eligible countries, including New Zealand, effective 25 May 2026. Travelers still need to apply for an ETA before arrival, but the fee is now free for a 30-day stay.