Travel is still on the table, despite cost of living pressures
Australians would rather cut back on the essentials than shelve holiday plans, new report finds
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Australians are prioritising spending on travel and accommodation despite cost of living pressures, a new report from CommBank iQ has just found.
The Cost of Living Insights Report reveals that Australians are prepared to cut back on everyday expenditure to direct their available funds to experiences that they missed out on during COVID.
Author of the report and head of innovation and analytics at CommBank iQ, Wade Tubman, said the results were a little surprising.
“Putting our expenditure under the microscope shows we’re responding to the increased cost of living in diverse and sometimes unexpected ways” Mr Tubman said.
“What we’re seeing is a continued COVID rebound effect, with consumers catching up on the experiences that they missed out on during the pandemic.
“It seems counter-intuitive that at a time of increased cost of living pressures, consumers are choosing to boost their discretionary spending.”
CommBank iQ is a joint venture between Commonwealth Bank of Australia and data science and artificial intelligence company Quantium, which uses aggregated and de-identified payments data from seven million CBA customers – Australia’s largest consumer payments data set – to track spending trends.
The report found cost of living playing out differently across age groups, with spending among Australians over the age of 35 almost double that of those under that age. Cost of living pressures were also most acutely felt by renters, rather than homeowners and mortgage holders.
“Our Cost of Living Pressure Indicator shows renters are experiencing more pressure than homeowners in general,” Mr Tubman said. “Despite the increased financial burden on some mortgage holders, a little under half of all homeowners are mortgage-free and a third of those with a mortgage have savings buffers of two years or more.”
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With US$40 million already committed, the Global Talent Fund is attracting investor attention with a strategy focused on building globally scalable consumer brands alongside high-profile talent.
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A new investment fund targeting celebrity-founded consumer brands has secured US$40 million in commitments and is rapidly approaching its US$50 million fundraising target, signalling growing investor appetite for alternative opportunities beyond traditional asset classes.
The Global Talent Fund, which has a maximum raise of US$100 million, focuses on building and investing in consumer businesses alongside celebrities, athletes, and influential personalities who play an active role as co-founders rather than simply endorsing products.
The strategy is based on the belief that changes in consumer behaviour, particularly the rise of social media and digital engagement, have fundamentally altered how brands are built and scaled.
GTF founding partner Jeremy Hunt, who is helping lead the fund’s strategy, said consumers increasingly feel connected to personalities they follow online and are more willing to support products developed by those individuals.
“Consumers are searching for content to engage with, and when a celebrity they like or follow takes them on the journey of creating a product or brand, they genuinely feel part of that process,” he said.
The fund is targeting high-growth consumer sectors including wellness, hydration, beauty and recovery, areas Hunt believes continue to benefit from strong global demand and ongoing innovation.
Rather than backing celebrity endorsement deals, the fund is seeking businesses where talent is deeply involved in product development, brand creation and long-term growth.
According to Hunt, authenticity remains one of the biggest differentiators between successful celebrity-backed brands and those that fail.
“The consumer can see clearly if someone is simply being paid to promote a product,” he said. “The winners are typically the brands where the celebrity has genuinely helped build the business from the ground up.”
The model has attracted support from several prominent Australian investors and business families, reflecting broader interest in alternative investments with global growth potential.
Hunt said consumer brands offered a level of tangibility that many investors found appealing.
“Consumer brands are what we touch, feel, smell and taste every day,” he said. “Our investors understand the growth potential in the model, but they also want to be part of the journey.”
The fund’s rapid progress towards its fundraising target comes amid growing recognition that celebrity influence, when combined with strong commercial execution and scalable business models, can create significant enterprise value.
With several high-profile celebrity-founded businesses generating billion-dollar exits in recent years, supporters of the strategy believe the opportunity remains in its early stages.
For more information, contact marc@kanebridge.com.au
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