Yahoo Finance Brits plan big budget breaks in 2022
Almost two fifths of sun-starved Brits are planning ‘luxury’ holidays next year, the majority with a budget of between £2,000 and £3,000 per person.
According to a survey of more than 2,000 British adults commissioned on behalf of ES Money:
USA is Brits’ top dream holiday location next year
Caribbean destinations are in second place
Canada takes third slot ahead of Dubai and Maldives.
For our purposes, ‘luxury’ means five star accommodation, private excursions, premium transportation - the best of everything. The finding suggests there is huge pent-up demand for international travel following the pandemic restrictions, which have only recently begun to ease since their imposition in March 2020.
We asked would-be travellers how much they intended to spend on a ‘dream getaway’ per person. Over one in six (16%) stated between ‘£2,000 and £2,999’, one in eight respondents selected ‘£1,000 to £1,999’, while a further 12% said they’d likely spend ‘£3,000 to £3,999’ per traveller.
One in 20 said they’d spend over £10,000 per person on a dream getaway in 2022.
The full top 10 ‘dream holiday destinations’, the percentage of people who selected them, and the average cost of a trip to each destination are:
USA £2,322
Caribbean (eg, Barbados) £5,647
Canada £2,088
Dubai £2,181
Maldives £2,625
Thailand £1,485
Japan £3,036
Hong Kong £2,817
China £1,027
South America (eg, Brazil) £733
In addition to luxury holidays, other popular options were ‘beach holidays’ (30% of respondents) and ‘safari/wildlife’ holidays (20%).
For this study, we focused on long-haul flight locations to determine ‘dream destinations’, as opposed to more common European getaways, as two thirds (67%) of respondents stated they considered a ‘once in a lifetime’ holiday as a medium or long-haul journey (3-6+ flight hours).
Kevin Pratt, ES’s travel and finance expert, said: “Massive demand for overseas once-in-a-lifetime dream holidays has built up over the past 18 months or so. As restrictions are removed and more routes open up, many of those who have the money to do so will be getting on a plane and heading for far-flung destinations.
“These adventures will cost a lot of money, so travel insurance is a must-have, both in terms of protecting you before you travel - in case you need to cancel - and while you’re away. A good policy will cover you for medical costs, including many problems associated with coronavirus, as well as lost or stolen belongings.
“If you’re travelling outside Europe, you’ll need ‘worldwide’ or ‘worldwide including North America’ cover, depending on your destination. Medical treatment in North American destinations is more expensive than other countries, which is why there’s a separate category of policy.
The average travel insurance premium for visiting the top 10 locations are:
USA, Canada and The Caribbean (Barbados): £82.27
China, Japan, Maldives, Hong Kong, Thailand, Dubai, South America (Brazil): £58.75
(Prices are the average of 10 quotes run on Forbes Advisor for a family of two adults and two children with no pre-existing medical conditions, taking a 10-day holiday).
Looking at how people plan on funding their trips, our study shows that 35% of holidaymakers would use long-term savings or investments to fund their trip while 32% said they’d fall back on funds saved by not going on holiday since pre-pandemic.
A fifth of respondents said they’d use emergency/rainy day savings.
