When people fly into Australia there are a ton of places that they can visit. A lot of people choose to go see Sydney since this is one of the most well known places in Australia. However, for the people already living in Australia, where do they like to go? Well the truth of the matter is, it’s not Sydney. In fact, Sydney came in last on a list of Aussies’ favorite domestic holiday locations. It seems that this year Melbourne has managed to surpass everyone, including Gold Coast.

A recent study that was done by Roy Morgan Research shows that Melbourne is a clear front runner for Aussies who favor it as domestic holiday location. It beat out Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. In March of 2009, Melbourne and Gold Coast were equally popular with Australians. As of March this year, 21 percent of Australians said that they would like to take a holiday in Melbourne in the next two years compared to just 19 percent that said Gold Coast.

The Sunshine Coast also continued to lose popularity with getting only 13 percent of the votes. Of course, at the bottom of the list with only 12 percent of the votes was Sydney. This was already an increase from the 10 percent that it got in 2007.

Tourism, Travel and Leisure International Director, Jane Ianniello, said that Australians increasingly want to holiday overseas, and as a result, most domestic destinations have lost appeal for Australians. Melbourne, however, appears to be the exception. This area has been able to increase peoples’ interest over the years. This has to do with the fine dining, shopping and cultural attractions in the area.