15th Europ Assistance holiday barometer

15th Ipsos holiday survey – Europ Assistance

  • More than 60% of European will take a holiday this summer
  • In 10 years, Europeans booking their own holidays through the Internet have increased from 28% to 60%.

As every year since 2000, Europ Assistance, the care and assistance global network provider of Generali, has commissioned a European survey on the holiday plans of the citizens of UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Austria.
The survey which was conducted by Ipsos, the global market research company, among 3,510 Europeans, showed  that more than 60% of the interviewees will take a holiday this summer, an increase of 6% compared to last year and showing a positive trend in all countries involved. European are also expected to allocate more money to their holidays: €2,390 is the average budget for Europeans in the Euro zone, a growth of €180 compared to 2014.
According to the survey, British, Germans, Austrians and Belgians prefer to travel abroad (59%, 61%, 67% and 71% respectively), in contrast to the French, Italians and Spaniards who typically take holiday in their home countries (56%, 62%, 65%). Seaside locations remain the preferred destination for most Europeans, however mountains are becoming increasingly popular.
The Europ Assistance and Ipsos research showed also that exchanges in accommodation & car sharing  are emerging as a new tourist trend. In fact, 15% of Europeans say they would be interested in car sharing this year, rising up to 30% for young adults aged 18-24 and to 24% for jobseekers. Accommodation exchanges, facilitated by the Internet, are also increasingly popular, not only for the younger and the people with a limited budget (23% and 19% respectively), but also for families (18% of families with two children and 26% of families with three or more children).
In 10 years, Europeans booking their own holidays through the Internet have increased from 28% to 60%.
During holidays, risks to personal and family health remain the primary concern (71% and 68%), ahead of the risk of losing personal belongings (64%). The survey showed a significant increase of 5 percentage points (to 51%) of the risk of attacks. This is especially true among the French citizens, with 38% of interviews claiming they were very worried compared to 28% last year, and among the Italians (44% compared to 27% in 2014).