Facebooking pictures of favourite holiday spots is encouraging more Aussies to book domestic holidays, according to new research.

A Tourism Australia commissioned study found that social media is impacting the way Australians travel locally, with up to 20 percent confessing to making travel decisions based on images and comments uploaded by their friends.

A further 73 percent of respondents said they proactively check friends' pages while they are on holidays to view updates and are often inspired by the content.

Generation Y is the most likely to book holidays based on friends’ activities, with figures finding than more than half said they would book a holiday based on social media influence.

Tourism Australia managing director Andrew McEvoy described the online sharing site as a “powerful platform” inspiring more Aussies to travel around their “own backyard”.

“Long gone are the days of getting back from the family holiday and inviting round family and friends to sit through a slide show of your favourite photos,” Mr McEvoy said. 

“This new research shows we are now telling stories of our great Aussie holiday adventures almost as they are happening - in real time - and, by doing so, inspiring our friends to follow in our footsteps.”

Earlier this year Tourism Australia launched the next phase of its ‘There’s nothing like Australia’ campaign, focused on social media movements.

Jumping onto the social media bandwagon, Qantas also unveiled its new marketing strategy last week, inviting travellers to interact with the carrier online and in the social networking sphere.