Maldives named Aussies' best-loved luxury destination amid travel boom

New awards program surveyed thousands of respondents.

Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru resort. Picture supplied

By Sarah Falson

Updated April 1, 2025, first published October 11, 2024

Maldives is Australia's most-loved luxury destination according to thousands of votes in Luxury Escapes' inaugural travel awards.

Luxury Escapes surveyed over 12,000 of its members about their favourite luxury holiday destinations and experiences, to create the 2024 LuxList, as follows:

Most loved Family-Friendly Escape: Disney Cruise Line Cruises
Most Inclusion-Packed Escape: Intercontinental Hayman Island
Most loved Bucket List Escape: Finland and Norway Northern Lights
Most loved Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Most loved Destination: Maldives
Most loved Luxury Escape: Grand Hyatt Bali

Luxury Escapes co-founder and CEO, Adam Schwab, said the LuxList awards showcase the finest in travel experiences and luxurious destinations that have captured the hearts of Luxury Escapes members.

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"Over half of the voters ranked Finland and Norway's Northern Lights as their ultimate bucket-list getaway, while more than 30 per cent named the Maldives as their most loved destination," Mr Schwab said.

"Bali continues to shine, with the Grand Hyatt Bali earning the title of the most loved Luxury Escape. This aligns with our recent travel data, which highlights Indonesia as the top outbound destination for Australian travellers in 2024."

The awards follow UK travel publication Conde Nast Traveller releasing its 2024 readers' choice awards in October, declaring Sydney the best city in the world to visit.

Responses from 125,000 readers across the UK named Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island the 29^th-best hotel in the world, and the only Australian hotel among the top 50.

The Fullerton Hotel Sydney was named the best hotel in Australasia, with Park Hyatt Sydney coming in second, Halcyon House at Cabarita Beach, NSW, in third place, Osborn House in Bundanoon, NSW in ninth place and The Langham Melbourne in 10th.

Disney Cruise. Picture supplied

The awards come at a time when Australia is enjoying a travel boom. Residents returned from almost two million short trips overseas in July 2024, up 10.4 per cent on the year before, the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.

The Australian travel industry is experiencing record-breaking growth and is expected to inject $265 billion into the Australian economy in 2024, representing about 10 per cent of the country's GDP, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

In 2023, jobs in Australia's travel and tourism sector surged by nearly 10 per cent from the previous year, hitting 1.42 million and representing a tenth of the national workforce, according to the WTTC's 2024 Economic Impact Research report.

Over the next decade, the sector is expected to support over two million jobs, representing 12 per cent of all Australian employment, the report said.

Words bySarah Falson

Sarah is ACM’s travel producer. She believes regional travel is just as fun (if not better) than staying in the big cities and loves any travel experience to do with nature, animals and food!.

My all-time favourite destination is ... Cornwall. From the giant seagulls to the blustery beaches, Cornish pasties and fishing villages, it stirs something romantic and seafaring in me.

Next on my bucket list is … Mongolia. I want to go somewhere really unique that feels totally foreign and challenges my way of life.

My top travel tip is … Don’t plan too much. Walk the streets and let it happen. And make sure you check out what’s within a few blocks of your hotel - sometimes the best local food is found that way.