Have you been anywhere nice for your summer holiday this year?
According to new research from the insurer SunLife, we spend a combined total of more than £37.1bn going on an average of 2.2 holidays each year.
The study looked at the holiday habits of 3,000 UK households and found that seven in ten households go away at least once a year.
Four in ten families head off on holiday at least twice each year.
For the purpose of this research, holidays are defined as breaks of four or more nights away from home.
The group that takes the most holidays are older people, particularly empty nesters; in this group, eight in ten take at least one holiday, but are more likely than average to take two holidays a year, with a quarter taking three or four every year.
Older households also spend the most on their holidays.
The research found that retired households spend £2,679 and empty nesters spend £2,696, which is over £700 more than the UK average.
The region where households are most likely to go on holiday is London, where 77% go on at least one holiday each year and households are just as likely to take two as they are to take one.
The average amount we spend on holidays is £1,964, which works out at £892 per holiday on average, but this varies dramatically between household types and regions.
SunLife’s research also found that holidays have a very strong correlation with wellbeing and happiness.
Those who were the most happy with life take 2.7 holidays each year compared to 1.8 for those who were the most unhappy.
Ian Atkinson, head of brand at SunLife comments:
“It is really interesting to see how our holiday habits differ across the UK and between household types, and perhaps quite surprising to see that 45-54s take the least holidays.
“What is perhaps unsurprising though is that taking a holiday cheers us up.
“While we have always known that holidays are good for us, our study now shows that people who take holidays are considerably happier than those who don’t, so it is worth putting a little aside each month to pay for a holiday because it really is good for our emotional well-being.”
