The Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF) is encouraging Australians to tap into their massive bank of national annual leave to turn Australia Day into a long weekend holiday getaway.

According to Roy Morgan Research, Australians have 123.5 million days in accrued annual leave – that’s an average of 15 days per full-time working Australian.

This year Australia Day falls on a Tuesday (26 Jan), which means using an annual leave day on Monday (25 Jan) could allow Australians to create a four day long weekend.

“There is nothing more Australian than taking a summer holiday and yet many of us have been hoarding our time off work to the point where we now have over 123.5 million days in accrued annual leave,” said Margy Osmond, TTF CEO.

“The TTF summer consumer survey revealed that besides the designated public holidays, 50 per cent of Australians don’t intend to take a break over the summer months.

“There is still time to take a much needed break to recharge the batteries before 2016 really kicks in and we’ve got to get back to the grindstone for another year.

“It doesn’t have to be an expensive five-star international holiday, a long weekend is a great opportunity to explore the beauty and wonder of our diverse continent at a cost that is affordable for families.

“An Australia Day long weekend getaway can come in all shapes and sizes from packing up the car and spending a few days in the regions to flying to the other side of Australia to explore the offerings of another capital city.

“If you are thinking about getting away for a few days, our survey shows that three to five nights away is the most popular (28.3 per cent), followed by six to 10 nights (21 per cent), one to two nights (16.2 per cent) and a lengthy 11 to 15 nights (10.0 per cent).

“Australians living in WA (34.3 per cent), SA (35.7 per cent) and VIC (34.3 per cent) like short trips of one to two nights while NSW (34.5 per cent), QLD (30.1 per cent) and TAS (41.2 per cent) prefer three to five nights away.

“The cost of travel (81.3 per cent), accommodation (65.2 per cent) and living expenses (51.3 per cent) are the highest influences on deciding on a holiday destination followed by what there is to see and do (49.3 per cent) and the ease of getting there (43.7 per cent).”