In order to discern whether Germans really plan their summer holiday six months in advance and the Spanish really book their hotel the night before, hotel search website trivago.co.uk has analysed summer travel habits from six different countries: the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Based on data from last summer, we took into account peak search week and time, average price per night, average stay duration, favourite accommodation types, top destination and most important hotel amenity, in order to compare differences between European nationalities when it comes to their summer holidays.
We also created a quiz, which allows you to find out which nationality your summer travel habits are most suited to.
Here are the results:
Peak search week
All nationalities book their summer holidays very late, with the peak search week for the summer period (1 June – 31 August) spanning from late July to mid-August. The UK and Irish searched earliest (last week of July), while the French and Italians searched latest (second week of August).
Peark search time
All nationalities prefer to search on Monday evening (case of the Monday blues?), with the only difference being in time – the UK searches earliest (8-9pm), with the Spanish and Italians searching latest (10-11pm).
Average price per night
UK users are willing to spend the most on their hotel room, with an average clicked price of £150 per night. Spanish users proved to be the most frugal, spending an average of just £96 per night for their summer holiday.
Average stay duration
No differences here, with each nationality staying an average of four days on their summer holiday.
Favourite accommodation type
UK, Irish and German users prefer hotels, while Spanish opt for aparthotels, Italians for B&Bs and French for holiday homes.
Favourite hotel type
This is a toss-up between the city and the beach break, with UK, Irish, French and German users preferring city-centre hotels and Spanish and Italians choosing beach hotels.
Top destination
In general, this is the capital city of the country in question, with the exception of Spain (Benidorm is their top destination) and Italy (Rimini is their top destination).
Most important amenity
Opinion is divided when it comes to the top hotel amenity, with UK, French and Irish users favouring WiFi, French and Germans choosing an onsite spa and the Spanish opting for a Jacuzzi.
Denise Bartlett, Communications UK & Ireland: “It is really interesting to see how UK users compare to their European counterparts. Unsurprisingly, we have the most in common with the Irish – both nationalities favour their capital city, city centre hotels and WiFi, with similar hotel spending habits. The most spontaneous nationalities are the French and the Italians – searches for summer holidays peak in mid-August, suggesting they are happy to book a last-minute holiday. The most stereotypical travel habit is the peak search time – although all nationalities favour Monday evening, UK users tend to search between 8 and 9pm, while Spanish and Italian users stay up much later – searching until 11pm.”