The number of people taking a holiday with extended family has more than doubled in the last year.
One in five (19%) consumers took at least one holiday with their extended family in the 12 months to July 2014 compared to just 7% the previous year, Abta’s Consumer Holiday Trends report shows.
A quarter of people (25%) travelled in a group of friends, compared to 22% in the previous year. The numbers travelling with their partner (50%) remained steady while there was a small decrease in people holidaying with their immediate family (39% in 2013).
Holidays with extended family were most popular with people with young children (under 5), with more than a quarter (27%) choosing to take one, suggesting that this trend may be due to people looking to share childcare duties.
Younger people are still the most likely to go on family holidays. Half (49%) of those aged 16-24 years old holidayed with their immediate family compared to an average of 35%.
This so-called ‘boomerang’ generation is perhaps choosing to take a family holiday due to financial pressures caused by cost-of-living pressures such as high rents and tuition fees.
It seems that this age group has a taste for group holidays, as they are also the most likely to go on holiday with an adult only group of friends (33%).
Those aged over 65 were most likely to holiday alone, with one in five (21%) having done so in the past year, reflecting the trend for so called “grey gap years” and suggesting older age groups are among the most independent when it comes to taking holidays.
Those aged 16-24 were the least likely to go away alone – only 6% holidayed alone compared to an average of 13%.
Abta head of communications Victoria Bacon said: “The inter-generational family holiday has been very popular in the past year. There are likely to be complex reasons for this. We also know that in the broader economy wages are struggling to keep up with inflation, so there is a possibility that families are holidaying together to share costs.
“This reason seems particularly compelling among those aged 16-24 who are the most likely to holiday with family.
“Also, the birth rate in the UK has increased significantly in recent years, suggesting there are more young families, perhaps looking to holiday with extended family to take advantage of this support network.”