Surveying 1,013 British people, momondo found beach holidays and city breaks came first and second most-popular by far, with fewer choosing to camp, rent holiday homes, take road trips, ski or book spa breaks.
Here momondo delves deeper into the data, analysing our travel habits and how we compare to other nations.
Sun, Sea and Sand
It seems the traditional appeal of the bucket and spade still holds strong for Brits. Topping the list of breaks, 46% of Britons claimed they will be taking a beach holiday this year. Although this statistic for Britons was 2% lower than last year, it does appear sun and sand appeals more to women, with almost half planning a breach break in 2016 at 48%, compared to a fewer 44% of British males. Beach breaks appeal more to the younger generation too; 52% of those aged 18-22, 51% of those aged 23-35, 43% of those aged 36-55 and 38% of those aged 56-65 are planning one this year.
Italians love a shoreline even more than Brits, with a whopping 69% stating they will vacate seaside this year. This was followed by 65% of Portuguese asked and 63% of Russians. Least liking the sea however are the Danes, with just 34% surveyed planning a 2016 beach retreat.
Lasse Skole Hansen, Spokesperson at momondo.co.uk states: “Brits will always love holidaying by the sea, though other nations will take even more beach breaks this year, for example almost 70% of Italians. Speaking as a Dane however, I understand why beaches are slightly less popular for us. Traditionally, Danes love to seek out adventure, which is why 40% of us are planning a city break.”
Urban breaks
momondo’s Annual Global Travel Survey found city breaks are still a popular travel choice for Brits. These were second-most popular choice of trip, with 37% of Brits planning one. The travel site also found city breaks appeal more to men, with 41% planning one compared to 34% of women. And city breaks also are a more popular option for those aged between 18-22 and 23-35 – 40% and 41% are taking one this year, respectively. That’s compared to a slight lower percentage of Brits aged 36-55, at 35%, and aged 56-65, at 36%.
The travel site found city breaks are even more popular with Italians however, with 63% planning one, followed by 60% of Chinese recipients questioned. City breaks were least popular with the French, with only 13% planning one in 2016.
Skole Hansen further states: “City breaks are very versatile getaways, appealing to couples, groups of friends and families with kids alike. Plus, big cities offer such a variety of experiences that there’s always something new to discover, whether you’re there for a weekend, an entire week, or even if you’ve been there before.”
momondo offers a unique free city guide app, momondo places for iPhone: inspiring users when planning their travels and when on the go – all according to travel mood.
Happy Campers
Third-most popular holiday choice for Brits is camping, with 15% pitching up this year. In comparison, the two nationalities jointly loving tents are Americans and Russians - 30% of both groups stated they will be camping out this year. Conversely, the Finnish do not regard camping so highly – they had the least recipients sleeping outdoors on vacation this year at just 4%.
Villa vacations
12% of Brits plan to rent or visit their own holiday house abroad this year, with 12% of Brits planning to rent or stay independently in the UK. This accommodation choice maintained its popularity year-on-year – in 2015 12% of Brits stayed in a property abroad and 13% in the UK.
And interestingly, booking accommodation independently appeals to the younger British market significantly more than the older generation. In total, 19% of Brits aged 18-22 will rent or stay in a UK holiday home this year, as will 17% of those aged 23-35. That’s compared to just 8% of those between the ages of 56-65 and 9% of those between ages 36-55. Similarly, 16% of those aged 18-35 will be booking up a villa overseas, compared to just 7% aged 56-65 and 11% aged 36-55, this year.
When it came to renting or staying in an independent holiday property in your own country, across the nations this was the most popular option for Russians at 44%, but least popular with Italians, with only 7% planning this type of trip. In terms of renting or visiting a home abroad, this was the most popular with Chinese (24%), Brazilians (22%) and Belgians (22%), but least popular with Finns (3%).
Skole Hansen states: “Danes also love renting or holidaying at our own summer houses at home in Denmark. The highest number of Danes across the 20 nations asked chose this type of break at 27%, apart from our neighbours the Finns at 31%,” concludes Skole Hansen.
Variety is the spice
In terms of different types of holiday, 12% of Britons are planning a spa break this year, 11% a cruise, 8% a hiking trip, 8% a ski break, 7% a sports holiday, 6% a cycling-focused jaunt, 6% will be inter-railing and just 5% of Britons will backpack.
And who is staying put?
Contrasting all 20 nations, the highest number of any nationality stating they will not be going on any holidays in 2016 were Britons, at 10%, up 3% from last year – suggesting austerity levels may be rising. This was followed by 9% of Australians and 8% of those from Belgium and also the Netherlands.
In comparison, just 2% of Italians, Spanish, Turkish and Brazilians surveyed said they wouldn’t take a break at all this year, followed by 3% of Swiss, Portuguese and Chinese surveyed.
