SYDNEY, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Australia's holidaymakers are set to spend over 9.1 billion Australian dollars (about 6.1 billion U.S. dollars) on travel this year, seeing an increase of 2 billion Australian dollars (about 1.3 billion U.S. dollars) from Easter last year, according to a report released on Monday.

Researchers from the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan revealed in the report that approximately 4.6 million Australians plan on taking a holiday during the Easter period, of which 61 percent will travel within their state, 30 percent to go interstate, and 9 percent overseas.

According to the report, the expected domestic spending, either intrastate or interstate, is around 6.5 billion Australian dollars (about 4.3 billion U.S. dollars).

"Whilst about 28 percent of the travel spend is being directed overseas, the majority of travel spend will be local -- more than 90 percent of the Australians who are holidaying are traveling domestically, so we're retaining a good portion of this economic stimulation," said ARA CEO Paul Zahra.

"Local retailers in popular holiday destinations will reap the benefits of the resurgence in domestic tourism this year," he added.

The report also indicated that the 65-and-older age group would spend the most on holidays, primarily because they tend to have longer average holiday durations than any other age group.

The report came after the ARA, in conjunction with Roy Morgan, recently revealed that Australians are tipped to spend almost 1.7 billion Australian dollars (about 1.13 billion U.S. dollars) on hot cross buns, easter eggs, or other special food for Easter this year.