TripAdvisor®, the world’s largest travel site, has announced the results of the world’s largest accommodation and traveller survey¹ – the TripBarometer by TripAdvisor. The survey reveals the leading travel and hospitality industry trends, according to over 19,000 travellers and over 10,000 accommodation business owners around the world. The study is conducted twice a year, and the results are analysed independently by research firm Edelman Berland.
The key findings of TripBarometer provide a unique insight into the current state of travel trends in the UK2 and around the world:
- A third of UK travellers expect to increase their travel budgets in 2014, despite lingering consumer pessimism about the economic recovery
- UK travellers’ holidays are becoming shorter but more frequent, as one in five Brits cut back on longer holiday breaks
- Two thirds of UK hoteliers are optimistic about their business’ profitability in 2014, and more than half plan to increase room rates – yet the economy is still expected to have a negative impact on business
- Brits are also making cutbacks in their daily lives to protect their holiday budgets – more than half are cutting nights out, a fifth are cutting back on charity donations, and one in twelve (8%) are even cutting back on childcare costs
Hoteliers are confident about future profitability
- Two thirds of UK hoteliers (59%) are optimistic about their business’ profitability in 2014
- Yet, more than half (52%) expect the state of the UK economy to have a negative impact on their business
- UK hoteliers are slightly more optimistic than European average (56%) but less optimistic than rest of the world
Hoteliers’ optimism is driving investment
- More than half of UK hoteliers (53%) plan to increase room rates
- A third (30%) of those increasing rates say it is in anticipation of increased demand
UK travel budgets defy consumer pessimism on economy
- Only a fifth of UK travellers (21%) are optimistic about the economy, compared to a third of travellers globally
- Yet, more UK travellers (32%) expect to increase their travel budget in 2014 than expect to decrease it (24%)
- Only 9% of UK travellers attribute their planned increase in budget to increased confidence in the economy
- In fact, two thirds (60%) say the health of the UK economy will have no impact on their travel plans for 2014
Trips are shorter yet more frequent
- One in five Brits (20%) will take more shorter holidays in 2014, while conversely around one in five (18%) expect to take fewer longer holidays
Everyday sacrifices help make trips possible
- 88% of all global travellers say it’s worth making sacrifices to make memories
- In UK, consumers are most likely to sacrifice nights out in order to save for a holiday
- More than one in five (21%) Brits are even willing to cut back on charity donations for a holiday
- For some, holidays even take priority over child-related commitments
| Factor | Percentage of UK respondents who will make sacrifices on the factor in order to save money for travel |
| Nights out | 54% |
| Meals out | 44% |
| Clothes, etc. | 43% |
| Home improvements | 29% |
| Cigarettes | 27% |
| Gifts | 27% |
| Charity | 21% |
| Groceries | 17% |
About TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor® is the world’s largest travel site*, enabling travellers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 260 million unique monthly visitors**, and more than 100 million reviews and opinions covering more than 2.7 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.