What better way to pass the time at the office than to start planning your next holiday? We at KAYAK obviously spend a lot of time thinking about holiday planning, but we wanted to know about the rest of you – and our new research has revealed that lots of Aussies are dreaming of their next holiday escape while at their desks.
Results show that 56% of Australian travellers planned their trips during the standard weekday work hours of 9am – 6pm. During the work day, the peak hours for travel searches occur just after lunch at 2pm, suggesting that perhaps we get inspired by our lunchtime conversations – or maybe we’re just not quite ready to return to the reality of work.
The research also reveals the top destinations worldwide where Australian travellers are browsing during work hours, with perennial favourites Bali, London and Sydney ranking as their top three choices. For Sydneysiders, London, Melbourne and Bali are the most popular destinations to browse, but Melburnians don’t return the same enthusiasm for Sydney, with Bali, London and Los Angeles making up the top most searched destinations in Melbourne**.
Now for the fun part – to give work-weary Australian travellers something to dream about, we at KAYAK have been hard at work cooking up a nifty new tool for you, and today we’re excited to announce Desktop Escape, a desktop app to inspire and help you get through the monotony of your work week. The free app provides stunning imagery from 90+ destinations across the world for users’ computer backgrounds, as well as highlighting how to book the cheapest flights to those destinations at the click of a button.
Available for both PC and Mac users, the app highlights the cheapest flight options to the highlighted destinations with a simple click of a button. You can choose the frequency with which your background image refreshes based on your preferences, from hourly up to weekly inspiration – and by simply clicking the ‘Escape’ button you will be directed to the KAYAK.com.au website where, in just a few clicks, you can get your dream holiday booked. Not only that, the app also provides helpful travel tips and suggestions to help you make the most of your adventures away.
*The data and analysis are based on searches made for economy return flights on KAYAK.com.au during search dates 1/1/2017 – 31/7/2018 for travel dates 1/1/2018 – 31/12/2018, compared with the corresponding period in the previous year (search dates 1/1/2016 – 31/7/2017 for travel dates 1/1/2017 – 31/12/2017)
**Appendix:
Most popular travel destinations searched during regular working hours (9am – 6pm) on work days (AU as a whole)
| Ranking | Destination |
| 1 | Bali |
| 2 | London |
| 3 | Sydney |
| 4 | Melbourne |
| 5 | Los Angeles |
| 6 | Tokyo |
| 7 | Singapore |
| 8 | Bangkok |
| 9 | Auckland |
| 10 | Delhi |
Most popular travel destinations searched during regular working hours (9am – 6pm) on work days (Sydney)
| Ranking | Destination |
| 1 | London |
| 2 | Melbourne |
| 3 | Bali |
| 4 | Los Angeles |
| 5 | Tokyo |
| 6 | Auckland |
| 7 | Delhi |
| 8 | Bangkok |
| 9 | Singapore |
| 10 | Gold Coast |
Most popular travel destinations searched during regular working hours (9am – 6pm) on work days (Melbourne)
| Ranking | Destination |
| 1 | Bali |
| 2 | London |
| 3 | Los Angeles |
| 4 | Tokyo |
| 5 | Delhi |
| 6 | Sydney |
| 7 | Bangkok |
| 8 | Auckland |
| 9 | Singapore |
| 10 | Gold Coast |
