New research and site statistics released by the UK’s fastest growing online independent travel agent have revealed that fewer couples are choosing to holiday together, without the additional presence or family or friends. A poll by one of the UK’s leading online independent travel agents, along with booking statistics released by the site, have revealed a decline in the number of couples holidaying together by themselves. Booking figures have found that group and family holidays are on the up, whilst couples’ holidays are dropping in popularity…
New research and site statistics released by the UK’s fastest growing online independent travel agent have revealed that fewer couples are choosing to holiday together, without the additional presence or family or friends.
A poll by one of the UK’s leading online independent travel agents, along with booking statistics released by the site, have revealed a decline in the number of couples holidaying together by themselves. Booking figures have found that group and family holidays are on the up, whilst couples’ holidays are dropping in popularity.
sunshine.co.uk noticed a 12% rise in family holiday bookings over the past year, as well as a 26% rise in group holiday bookings. In contrast, bookings for couple’s holidays were down 7% in the past 12 months when compared to the previous year; prompting the travel agency to poll 1,726 people in relationships from the UK, each of whom had already booked their 2011 holiday.
Respondents to the poll were initially asked, ‘Who will you be going on holiday with this year?’ and the results were as follows:
- Family, partner included – 32%
- Friends, partner included – 26%
- Just my partner – 16%
- Just friends – 14%
- Family, partner not included – 6%
- Other – 4%
- Alone – 2%
The respondents were then asked to stipulate why they had chosen to go on holiday with the person or people that they had booked to go away with. Of those who selected ‘Family, partner included’ 24% claimed that they had got a better deal than if they just went away with their other half, whilst 11% said they simply preferred going away with family too.
Of those who plan to go away with ‘just friends,’ leaving their partner behind, 17% said it was due to the fact that their partner was unavailable to go at the same time. 3% said it was so they could have a break from their relationship, whilst 22% said it was either a ‘lads only’ or ‘girls only’ occasion.
The poll by sunshine.co.uk found that, of the respondents planning to go away with ‘Family, partner not included,’ 7% said that it was due to the fact that their family didn’t get on with their other half.
Chris Brown, co-founder of sunshine.co.uk, commented on the findings: “Many people in relationships think that a holiday with just the two of them is their idea of paradise, but you’d be surprised at the number of couples who actively choose not to go away with each other. I think a good compromise to going with just your partner is to ask friends along, or book with family too. Usually, the more people that go, the better the holiday; you can go off and do your own thing if you want some alone time with your other half, but then you have the option to socialise in a bigger group if it takes your fancy.
“At the end of the day, everyone has their own idea of the perfect holiday and whether that’s a week in the Maldives with just you and your partner, or a fortnight in Orlando with the whole family, we have a break to suit.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
