Gap widens between holiday ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’

Sunday, 13 Oct, 2015 0

Continued pressure on household budgets is widening the gap between holiday ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.

New research from ABTA found the volume of holidays booked by Brits has increased, but the rise is being driven by just three quarters of the population.

Its Holiday Habits Report 2015 showed the average number of holidays taken per person increased slightly from 3 holidays last year to 3.2 holidays this year.

But the total number of people taking a holiday fell from 80% last year to 77% in 2015.

The decline continues a trend seen over the last five years. Back in 2011 90% of the UK population said they took a holiday.

Closer examination showed the biggest cuts in holidays comes from those with the tightest budgets, while affluent Brits appear to be taking more holidays per person.

"The travel industry has seen a steady return to growth in recent years following the credit crunch and worldwide economic crisis," said ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer.

"It is very encouraging to see optimism and growth with many people choosing to take more holidays, particularly longer overseas breaks.

"However, some people are clearly still feeling the pinch and are either cutting back on the number of holidays, or not taking a holiday at all.

"This suggests the ‘long-tail’ of the recession is still having an impact on people’s ability to afford at least one holiday a year."

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Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.

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