Corporate travel followed the minerals as Western Australia gains ground on the Golden Triangle

The findings come from FCM Travel, the large enterprise travel management specialist of Flight Centre Travel Group. Its first-half 2026 booking data revealed Melbourne-Sydney travel fell about four per cent year-on-year, Brisbane-Sydney was down two per cent, and Brisbane-Melbourne fell about seven per cent.

Travel out west told a very different story, though, as Kalgoorlie-Perth led the way, up 40%, closely followed by Broome-Perth, up 43%. Adelaide also emerged as a standout corridor, with Adelaide-Melbourne travel climbing 24%, while routes connecting Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide to Perth all also posted solid growth.

Behind the shift in destinations was a shift in industry, as mining, oil and gas overtook government and not-for-profit travel to become FCM's most-booked sector nationally. Although the global uncertainty from the Middle East conflict clouded international travel, the sector's domestic bookings were up 21% year-on-year.

"For years, the Golden Triangle has carried the bulk of corporate travel because that is where the head offices, meetings and deals were,"

"Although the Golden Triangle remains strong in volume, this half, Western Australia showed that it is a genuine contender. Business is following opportunity, not habit, and right now that opportunity is sitting in the ground out west.

"There’s a reason this sector keeps showing up in our data. Australia sits on some of the best mineral wealth in the world, and the resources behind this growth will play a key role in the rest of the world’s shift towards renewable energy.

"When an industry moves like this, everyone who works within it moves too."

- Renos Rologas, General Manager of FCM Travel ANZ

What’s fuelling the boom

The timing tracked a genuine boom in the west, underpinned by growing international investment. Gold exploration spending in Western Australia recently hit its highest level since records began in 1988, while Australia’s gold export earnings have been forecast to climb from $47 billion in 2024-2025 to $74 billion by 2026 to 2027.

The momentum has been reinforced by the US-Australia Critical Minerals Framework signed in October 2025, which has helped anchor renewed confidence in the country's resources sector more broadly.

The trend also echoed a broader signal of resilience in the Australian economy. NAB’s Monthly Business Survey showed national business confidence recovering for three consecutive months through June 2026, after falling sharply when the Middle East conflict first broke out, with the report noting that the impact of rising fuel costs and disruption had been smaller than initially feared.

Government and not-for-profit travel also grew strongly in the same period, while utilities travel climbed as the country's energy infrastructure build-out continued, further evidence that confidence is broadening beyond mining alone.

"Mining becoming our most-travelled industry, and Western Australia becoming one of our fastest-growing destinations tells you where confidence in the Australian economy is really sitting right now,".

"Businesses are backing the regions and industries doing the heavy lifting, and they're getting on planes to do it."

- Renos Rologas, General Manager of FCM Travel ANZ