Australians have set a new record for consuming travel content in January 2024, with digital audiences for travel search reaching unprecedented numbers, according to data from Ipsos iris.

The month saw the highest audience for travel content since Ipsos iris began tracking, with a 2.8% increase compared to December and a 4.2% rise on the same period in 2023.

Other dominant global and local news of interest to Aussies included sports, floods and cyclones, along with 'royalty' - the UK and European kind - plus pop royalty alike, garnering interest in January. Many Australians for example looked to celebrate Danish Queen Mary's proud Aussie roots, along with Taylor Swift's Australian tour - the Danish Coronation and Swift's appearance at the Golden Globes dominated news interest.

Other major global and local news events continuing to fuel online reading of news sites included the release of names connected with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Princess Catherine's surgery, the crisis in the Middle East, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami warning, tropical cyclone Kirrily and the Victorian floods.

On the sports front, website and app viewing was up 5% on December and 7.1% on the same time last year, with 10% more women consuming sport than a year ago. Viewing was buoyed by the Australian Open as well as cricket.

Across the board, the most consumed website and app categories in January were search engines (21 million), social networking (21 million), technology (20.9 million), retail and commerce (20.7 million), and entertainment (20.6 million). The fastest-growing category was home and property, which saw a 6.5% rise compared to December.

Nearly 20.3 million people used a news website or app in January, a slight decrease compared to December, but a slight increase on the same time in 2023. Sport website and app viewing also peaked in January, up 5% on December and 7.1% on the same time last year. Interestingly, 10% more women consumed sport content in January 2024 than a year ago.

Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March 2023, provides data about the 21 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices. It is positioned as an independent source of truth for the media industry, providing a level playing field for comparison of audience reach and characteristics and supporting the $14.2 billion Australian online advertising market.

Ipsos iris uses a single-source multi-device panel measuring activity on 8,000 smartphones, PCs, laptops and tablet devices. Later this year, CTV audience currency integration from a data partnership with OzTAM will provide total unduplicated digital audience currency data for CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Ipsos iris is fully privacy compliant and cross-media ready and will continue to evolve with a roadmap of enhancements over 2023 and beyond. This record-breaking consumption of travel content by Australians underscores the importance of accurate and comprehensive digital audience data for the media and advertising industries.