Australian travelers are also a generous bunch, with 43% saying they carry cash with them to use as a tip.
When it comes to how we exchange our money, traditional methods remain popular.
More than half (56%) of respondents visited currency exchange shops and 38% used bank branches. Even younger people who generally use digital banking at home preferred traditional banking (35%) to apps (19%) to acquire holiday money.
Commenting on the survey, Adrian Williams, chief operating officer of Accor Pacific’s Pacific, Premium, Midscale and Economy division, said the hotel chain has seen a “remarkable recovery in international travel”.
“While we are seeing a strong appetite for global travel, we are also seeing millions in idle foreign currency in homes across the country,” he said.
Mr Williams was promoting a program in which Accor hotels donate customers’ unused travel money to the Domestic Violence Collective.
“It’s a meaningful way to put idle travel dollars to good use while celebrating our spirit of exploration,” he said.
Other companies, including some airlines, also collect foreign coins and banknotes on behalf of charities.
However, while we are generous towards worthy causes, 49% of respondents said they had saved foreign currency after a trip with the prospect of returning to that country in the future.
One in five (20%) said they kept foreign cash as souvenirs, while 26% said they did so because it was too complicated to convert it back into Australian currency.
The top five most popular currencies to hold onto were the US dollar (37%), the euro (33%), the Singapore dollar (21%), the British pound (20%) and the New Zealand dollar (20%). ).
