Latest News
HomeRegional NewsEuropeCouples in their fifties more likely to spend Christmas abroad
Survey

Couples in their fifties more likely to spend Christmas abroad

In an analysis of bookings for Christmas 2016, Holiday Hypermarket found that 81% of these travellers were couples – meaning that the vast majority were holidaying without their families.

An impressive amount of people in their fifties are deciding to spend this Christmas abroad, with 71% of festive vacation-goers over the age of 51, new data from UK travel retailer Holiday Hypermarket has revealed.

In an analysis of bookings for Christmas 2016, the company found that 81% of these travellers were couples – meaning that the vast majority were holidaying without their families.

Meanwhile, the top holiday destination of choice is Tenerife – with as many as 24% of bookings flying out on the 20th of December to the popular resort in the Canaries for the Christmas period.

Interestingly, the numbers for people going on holiday over Christmas in their 60s is significantly lower, making up only 14% of all bookings.

Commenting on the findings Holiday Hypermarket representative Ian Crawford said: “There’s always been a strong interest in travel over the Christmas and New Year break, but it seems that winter sun is really popular at the moment, especially with slightly older couples.

“Those over 50 do tend to have a bit more money and time available to travel. We’re interested in why the numbers of winter holidaymakers seems to drop at 60+ though.

Initially, we thought it may be down to wanting to spend time with their grandchildren. The average age for a first-time grandparent in the UK is 47, so it doesn’t seem that this is the reason. Anecdotally though, it seems from speaking to our customers that many people in their 60s simply feel more comfortable spending Christmas at home. It will be interesting to see how this figure changes over the coming years for this reason. In five to ten years, it may be significantly different.”

“Many people in their 50s spend Christmas abroad with friends and family, and we also know that quite a lot of over 50s have second homes abroad that they regularly visit,” adds Martin Lock, CEO of Silversurfers.com, the leading online community for the over 50s.

“A lot of the over 50s also have relatives living in destinations like Spain, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand and visit them at this festive time of year. On the Silversurfer’s Facebook site which has nearly 300,000 members, we note lots of comments from our community posting to their friends and families abroad and vice versa.”

Photo caption: The top holiday destination of choice is Tenerife.

Co-Founder & Managing Director - Travel Media Applications | Website | + Posts

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

Tags
28/03/2024
27/03/2024
26/03/2024
25/03/2024
22/03/2024
21/03/2024