Travellers heading down under for a party-filled Christmas and New Year may be hoping to return with golden, sun-baked bodies - but they could just as easily end up with skin welts, itching patches and swollen bites.

The culprits are a plague of blood-sucking, bed-infesting insects threatening to hit hotels and hostels across Australia. Infestations of bed bugs, small brown mites which feed by piercing the skin, are set to cause misery in Australian tourist destinations.

Last year visitors crammed into the country to celebrate the festive season. One national chain of hostels had 5,000 infected beds, and in Queensland, even a "luxury" resort once had 36 rooms out of action.

More joys of backpacking here