The Great British Holidaymaker is a pretty hardy and determined species - but they’ve certainly not been immune from the cost of living crisis.
3-in-5 of us have either booked or are planning to book a trip abroad in the next 12 months, according to our survey of 1,000 adults across the UK. Another 20% will take a break in the UK while 1-in-5 said they just couldn’t afford to go away at all this year.
Furthermore, the cost of living crunch has changed the plans of 70% of those who are planning to go on holiday this year.
1 in 5 are giving up things like excursions and meals out, 19% are heading to cheaper destinations, 17% are booking cheaper accommodation, and 13% are even going for red-eye flights to make holiday budgets go further.
A quarter of those planning to travel will take fewer breaks this year, and 13% will stay away for fewer days/nights.
As many as 7% of adults aged 25-54 admitted that they were planning to take their children out of school to avoid peak season costs.
Only 3 out of 10 said money was no object to their travel plans.
Travel insurance popularity
In good news for travel insurers, it appears that the one thing people aren’t going to be skimping on is insurance.
Post pandemic, people aren’t taking any chances with their health – or their hard-earned holidays – and travel insurance is almost universally valued.
Nearly 60% have already got some sort of travel insurance in place for their planned trips, with another 32% planning on getting cover before they go. Only 7% of travellers felt they didn’t need travel insurance, and only 1% felt they couldn’t afford it.
In fact, despite ongoing and deepening cost of living struggles, price is not the main consideration for most travel insurance customers. More than half make getting the best level of cover top their top priority. Most then prioritise a quality brand they recognise, with price coming in a paltry third in their list of considerations.
When we asked people to rank the most important policy features, medical expenses and repatriation were the most important things people want from their travel insurance.
Viewsbank is our in-house consumer research panel. It’s a large, responsive and community driven panel that conducts both quantitative and qualitative research.
Our Viewsbank panel helps our customers with a wide variety of projects ranging from detailed mystery shopping to demographically targeted research surveys. The research helps our clients make informed decisions based on true understanding of the consumer’s voice.
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