Summertime Blues?
The new 7-country Ipsos-Europ Assistance Holiday Barometer finds only 54% of Europeans planning to go on holiday this summer, the lowest for 8 years.
Spain is truly feeling the pain: less than half (42%) of Spaniards now plan to go on holiday this summer. This marks a sharp fall from the 61% recorded in 2009.
The French remain the most attached to their holidays, but here too we see a drop – from 70% planning to get away last year, to 62% today.
For those who are going away, budgets remain broadly stable, and 81% of holidaymakers plan to spend their time off in a European country.
The internet has become the tool of choice for searching and making bookings. It is now used by 56% of European holidaymakers, up from 28% in 2005.
The full findings, covering France, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Britain, Germany and Italy, are available here. You can also find more about the survey in the Europ Assistance press release and (in French) on the Ipsos France website.
What does all this tell us about the British holidaymaker in 2013?
Some headlines:
- The British are bucking the European trend, in being a little more likely to go on holiday this summer than 12 months ago. Some 56% of us plan to get away this summer – a 5 point rise on 2012. This is still well down on the 64% recorded in 2009/10 (slide 10)
- The Brits are among the continent’s “hurriers”. Looking ahead to 50 years from now, they are particularly excited about the prospect of being able to “travel to the other side of the world in a few hours” – as are the French and Italians.
- In contrast, we have the “weather worriers” – the Germans, Austrians, Belgians and Spanish. They place greater priority on being able to get a “precise weather forecast...when you make your booking” (slide 77)
- The draw of the continent – at least when it comes to our holidays. Nearly six in ten British holidaymakers (57%) are going abroad to a European country, with 24% staying in the UK. German and Austrian holidaymakers show a little more loyalty to staying in their home country, at 33% and 30% respectively, while the Belgians are less keen on staying at home; just 9% of them are going to holiday in Belgium (slide 48)
- The stay-at-homes: 70% of Italians, 65% of Spanish and 60% of French holidaymakers plan to stay in their own country this summer
- I want to go to the seaside: 55% of British holidaymakers plan to go to the beach – a little below the European average of 64% (slide 41). The British show more enthusiasm for touring and visiting towns/cities than many of their European neighbours
- Britain is No 1 in a number of areas: • Booking online (66% plan to use the internet – see slide 25) • Enthusiasm for the idea of being able to travel into space (slide 77) • Having insurance cover (slide 86)
Technical Note The 13th Ipsos – Europ Assistance holiday barometer was conducted among 4,048 people living in Europe: France (515), Germany (500), Great Britain (520), Spain (500), Italy (501), Belgium (1,001) and Austria (511). Interviews were conducted by telephone with nationally representative samples of adults aged 18+
