Brits to take more holidays and continue spending this summer

A quarter of Britons expect to be taking more holidays this year than 2006, new research shows.

A poll of almost 3,000 travellers worldwide by online travel community TripAdvisor suggests that 70% of British travellers plan to take two weeks of holiday or more and 18% plan to take more than five weeks, compared with 55% and 13%, respectively, for all travellers worldwide.

The survey found that a quarter of British and 29% of all respondents say they will be taking more holidays than they did last year, and 60% plan to take the same amount. Only 14% said that they will be taking less holiday this summer than last.

More than 30% intend to spend more this summer than they did last year.  Just over one third of British respondents estimate they will spend between £500 and £1,400 on their summer holiday this year. Twenty-three per cent will spend £2,500 or more.

Increases in fuel costs and rising air fares will not make any difference to the travel plans for the great majority of British travellers. Eighty-eight per cent of travellers from the UK said that cost increases would not affect their summer plans at all compared with 79% of all other travellers.

TripAdvisor European communications manager Ian Rumgay said: “It looks like we will all be taking more time off and spending more money on our holidays this summer.

“The British love affair with the sun, sand and sangria continues unabated and warnings about exposure to the sun are being ignored. So it would appear are calls by the environmental lobby to cut down on air travel, especially long haul.”

Excluding travel and accommodation, most holiday spending money (53%) is likely to go on food and drink. Tours will account for 14%, followed by sports activities (4%), souvenirs (4%) and concerts and shows (3%).

Brits are more likely to protect their summer holiday investment than most, with 56% planning to take out travel insurance compared with only 32% of other worldwide travellers.

More than half of British holidaymakers (53%) will take a beach holiday this summer. A further 19% will rent a private villa, compared with only 11% of travellers outside the UK.

But UK travellers are lazy on summer holiday, with 64% saying they like sunbathing best (compared with 53% of all travellers) followed by cultural activities such tours, visiting museums, national parks or taking in a concert. Significantly less are likely to go hiking, biking, sailing or fishing, or play golf or tennis.

Fifty-five per cent of TripAdvisor travellers intend to take their summer break in  a new destination while 33% will return to the same place as last summer.

The British are more likely to keep in touch with work (62%) and watch TV (59%) than all other holidaymakers.

Sixty-three per cent of travellers will be travelling outside their home country this summer. Despite the weak dollar, 46% of Americans will be travelling outside the U.S. this summer, up from 43% last summer.

Emerging hotspots include Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and Seminyak in Bali, Indonesia. 

TripAdvisor TravelCast Top Ten World Travel Hot Spots:

  1.. Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

  2.. Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

  3.. Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia

  4.. Los Suenos, Costa Rica

  5.. Pula, Croatia

  6.. Ko Lanta, Thailand

  7.. Sayulita, Mexico

  8.. Puerto Madryn, Argentina

  9.. Can Tho, Vietnam

  10.. Sapa, Vietnam

by Phil Davies