It’s a well known fact that British people love to go on holiday. It’s been this way since the 1800’s, when Thomas Cook invented the package tour, arranging a train trip between Leicester and Loughborough. In the 1930’s, Billy Butlin opened several holiday camps which were enormously popular. By the 1960’s, jet planes were introduced which encouraged more people to go abroad. In the 90’s, budget airlines became popular, making travel more accessible than ever. In the present day, we can arrange our dream holiday without even getting dressed or leaving the sofa, thanks to the internet.
Our love for holidays means that we have no qualms about paying out for them. Research has shown that the average British person will spend over £200k on holidays in their lifetime. The study also found that the average Brit now has two UK mini breaks per year and at least one foreign holiday. For each UK break, there is an average spend of £805, whereas £1,700 will be spent on a foreign holiday.
When you’re spending so much money on a holiday, you want it to be worth it. Luckily, 86% of the people surveyed claim that holidays are the ‘highlight of their year’. It’s soon clear how much holidays are valued, as 54% of people would go to the extremes of saying that life ‘would not be worth living’ without holidays.
However, the ability to afford going on holiday regularly is still out of reach for some people. 33% of people from the survey have gotten themselves into debt to pay for a holiday. Of the people who had got into debt, they claim that the most amount of money that they have borrowed for a single holiday is just over £1000- it would take them an average of 11 months to pay it back.
Some people do prefer to save for their holidays, with the survey findings revealing that it takes an average of 7 months to save up for an annual holiday. Almost half of Brits have a savings account specifically for holidays. £120 is the average amount which is put away each month for holidays.
The survey was commissioned by Quidco, who said that it is concerning so many people are willing to put themselves in debt for a holiday. The company stressed that people should be booking their holidays online and taking advantage of cashback schemes to help them save money.
How much do you love to go on holiday? Let us know in the comments!
