Kiwi men more likely to travel than women, Southern Cross Travel Insurance study suggests

It’s fair to say most people, Kiwis especially, love to travel overseas, to experience new destinations and foreign cultures.

However, men are more likely to turn those desires into reality according to the latest Future of Travel study from Southern Cross Travel Insurance.

The study found Kiwi men were more likely to have travelled overseas in the last 12 months than women.

While 50 per cent of men surveyed had gone abroad, just 38 per cent of women had.

Not only this, but men were planning to travel more in 2024. Men, on average, were planning 1.06 trips this year, compared to women’s 0.85.

Southern Cross Travel Insurance’s CEO Jo McCauley said they were “fascinated” to see such a clear difference between sexes in the online study, which questioned 1023 Kiwis aged 18 years and older.

“While research shows women make 80 per cent of all household spending decisions, it appears they’re more reluctant to spend on travel than their male counterparts,” McCauley said.

She said this was a shift from the 2022 Future of Travel study, which found women were more positive about travel compared to men, on average.

“They were more likely to see travel as giving them the opportunity to have a complete break, to experience new cultures, to reward themselves and to create memories with family and friends,” she said of the 2022 results.

However, this could be less of a shift and more of an indication of the difference between the desire to travel and the ability to travel. While women may be more likely to view travel positively, external and social factors may be the reason they don’t put their spending power towards taking holidays.

For example, women in New Zealand have been found to perform majority of unpaid labour in a home or family. And, unlike a regular job, one can’t take annual leave from caring for children or running a home, making it more challenging to take a holiday.

Kiwis eager to prioritise travel

Irrespective of gender, the study found that, across the board, Kiwis highly valued travel, no matter how expensive life got.

Almost half (44 per cent) of Kiwis had taken a trip in the last 12 months and 61 per cent plan to travel in the next 12 months.

As for where we went, Australia remained a solid favourite amongst those who purchased Southern Cross travel insurance, McCauley said Kiwis had travelled far and wide in 2023.

“They went absolutely everywhere – from Albania, Australia, and Fiji to almost every country in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and even unusual spots like Uzbekistan, the Solomons and Oman,” she said, adding that destinations with warm climates tended to be most popular.

Of those planning to travel in the next 12 months, 51 per cent said it was a ‘priority’ regarding discretionary spending, and a further 16 per cent described it as “more important than anything else,” McCauley stated.