Holidaying at home

Alice Dunn, marketing executive at Kantar Media, reveals key insights on upmarket British holiday-makers…

The government are capitalising on this year’s London Olympics and Diamond Jubilee at present with a prominent ad campaign encouraging us Brits to stay on home soil this summer.

However, encouragingly for the economy, many of those best placed to be able to afford to travel abroad are already holidaying in Britain. Latest insight from Kantar Media’s Premier TGI survey, of the most upmarket and affluent British adults, reveals 72% of such consumers holidayed in Britain in the last year. Of these, 33% have holidayed solely in the UK and these figures are rising.

The number of upmarket adults opting for British holidays has crept up by 5% since 2007 when the economic downturn began to take hold. Conversely, the number of those taking holidays abroad has fallen over the same time period by 4%. 2008 was the first time numbers of upmarket adults holidaying in Britain surpassed those going abroad.

Encouragingly for marketers, those upmarket adults holidaying in Britain are not frugal with their cash. Close to a third of upmarket Brit-holidaymakers spent at least £250 per person on their last holiday on home soil. These highest-spending British holidaymakers are also away on average for two nights more than the average upmarket consumer. Furthermore, they plan their trips at relatively short notice, with 46% of them booking less than two months in advance.

Upmarket adults spending the most on holidays at home are also big-spenders across a number of other products and services. For example, they spend £45 per month on average on clothes compared to £40 for the average upmarket adult. They are significantly more likely to dine out at restaurants several times a month and to consider themselves experts in fine wines.

Not only are they big-spenders, but they are also a financially-astute group. Premier TGI reveals that they are 30% more likely than the average upmarket adult to follow the stock market and keep up with the financial pages of newspapers. They are also a third more likely to have invested in private health and medical insurance.

Attitudinally, these adults who spend the most on holidays at home are an environmentally-aware group. 73% of them feel that a company’s ethics are one of the most important attributes and 66% think that recycling should be made compulsory. They are also a scrutinising bunch: 71% of them think companies tend to over claim their green credentials.

In terms of the most effective means of reaching these highest-spending British-holidaymakers, Premier TGI reveals they are significantly more likely to be amongst the heaviest fifth of consumers of newspapers and magazines. They are also 44% more likely than the average upmarket adult to be willing to pay to access content on newspaper websites. Given that they are also 32% more likely to own a tablet, marketers would do well to target this group across both traditional and digital media.