Credit crunch to influence 2009 holiday choices
Concerns over the economic downturn will play a big influence in consumer holiday choices for 2009, latest research shows.
A majority of 58% agreed when asked: ‘Do you think the current economic climate has/will influence your choice of main holiday destination in 2009?’
Those most likely to be influenced are those aged 16 to 25 in the C2 social demographic and living in the South West and Wales, according to the findings from industry research firm TripVision.
However, the latest poll findings also reveal that those showing a future intention to travel declined by just one per cent to 75% when asked in September compared to January this year.
This indicates that people still plan to go on holiday, although their choice of destination is likely to be influenced by the economic climate.
The nationally representative poll of 1,000 people shows that more are likely to consider shorter haul destinations such as Spain, Italy and France over the US.
And they are more likely to consider a shorter duration holiday and opt for cost-effective self-catering.
The travel industry key performance indicators also show a rise in people choosing package holidays over independently organised travel arrangements. The proportion opting for packages was up to 48% last month over 46% a year ago but down from a high of 53% during the January peak booking period.
There was also a big drop in people paying attention to green issues, down to 36% from 43% a year ago.
A small rise in the percentage of people worried about terrorism was registered, up to 17% last month from 15% in October last year.
TripVision marketing and operations director Jeff Rhys-Jones said: “The future intention to travel has gone down by one per cent which is not a huge drop, which suggests that people are still planning to go on holiday.
“I don’t think the travel industry as a whole is going to be a loser. While there will be more company failures, the really savvy ones will be putting forward products to consumers that they want to buy.â€
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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