TRENDSPOTTING: Think short break, long haul

There’s change afoot in Europe and I don’t mean just the weather or the politicians that are getting hotter and sexier by the minute.

The change I’m talking about is the way Europeans are taking their vacations and how that could affect the way they travel to Asia in the future.

I first got a lecture on it during my holiday in France when I remarked that for August, the roads didn’t seem to be too jammed and even at Loire Valley, one of France’s most visited tourist spots, the castles didn’t seem to be over-run with French tourists.

“You’re still stuck in the old way of thinking,” says my French friend. “Things are changing in France. Unless you’re a civil servant or a teacher, we no longer take long, extended holidays. More of us are now taking shorter, more frequent breaks.”

It’s a change Sarkozy and his new government is intent on accelerating. In his acceptance speech, he said, “The French people have spoken. They have chosen to break with the ideas, the habits and the behavior of the past.”

Globalisation is a key factor behind the changes in work and vacation habits of Europeans.

A recent article in the International Herald Tribune, titled “Globalisation closes in on Swedes’ treasured vacation”, also homes in on the changing holiday patterns of one of Europe’s last bastions when it comes to taking time off work.

According to a recent EU study, Swedish workers topped the European vacation rankings, entitled to an average of 33 paid vacation days in 2006, close to seven weeks, not counting public holidays. (Germans had 30, Italians had 28 and Estonians, who ranked last, had 20.)

“But the question is how long this laid-back state of affairs can last. Change is on the horizon, driven, it seems, by the invisible hand of globalisation.”

It quotes author Orvar-Lofgren, who’s written a book On Holiday: A History of Vacationing: “The classic five-week vacation is not as holy as it used to be.”

Global competition is forcing Swedes to “seriously consider giving up some of their cherished summer days off”, says the article.

These trends could mean both opportunity and threat to Asian destinations where Europeans have traditionally flocked, either for their multi-stop holidays or their extended stay-put vacations. What is clear is Asian destinations may have to look afresh at the way they market to European travellers.

Shorter, more frequent vacations may mean more short-haul holidays. Low cost airlines in Europe have completely transformed the European vacation market. In Britain, they’ve found it is cheaper to take a holiday in Barcelona than Blackpool and when you’ve got to choose between the two, well, you know what the decision will be.

On the other hand, globalisation also means the world is smaller and people don’t think twice as hard about taking that flight of 12 hours to get somewhere for even a week’s holiday. So more frequent vacations may mean more Europeans could take shorter breaks in Asia, especially during the winter months, when they are desperate for sunlight.

Enter the long haul, low cost airline models such as AirAsia X which could drastically change the way Europeans view Asia – no longer cheap but far, but cheap and not that far after all. It’s amazing what price can do to shrink distance.

Throw into the pot climate change – could the lack of snow and sun drive more Europeans southwards whether in summer or winter?

Truth is, in today’s globalised world, where goods made in one place end up in another with no thought to borders or even quotas, the same is happening to the movement of people.

Yesterday’s five-week vacation has become a week here, a week there. And I reckon we need to change our travel vocabulary – forget words like “long haul” and “short haul”. In today’s world, distance is only in the mind. – Yeoh Siew Hoon, The Transit Cafe