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F l a s

h E u r o

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t e r

2 9 1

T

h e

G a

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O r g a n

i s a

t i o n

This survey was requested by the Directorate General Enterprise and Industry, andcoordinated by Directorate General Communication.

This document does not represent the point of view of t he European Commission.The interpretations and opinions contained in it are solely those of the authors.

F l as h E u r o b a r o m e t er

Survey on the attitudesof Europeans towardstourism

Analytical reportWa v e 2

Fieldwork: February 2010

Publication: March 2010

EuropeanCommission

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Flash EB Series #291

Survey on the attitudesof Europeans

towards tourismWave 2

Conducted byThe Gallup Organisation, Hungary

upon the request of Directorate GeneralEnterprise and Industry

Survey co-ordinated byDirectorate General Communication

This document does not represent the point of view of the European Commission.

The interpretations and opinions contained in it

are solely those of the authors.

THE G ALLUP ORGANISATION

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Analytical report Flash EB N o 291 Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism, wave 2

page 3

Table of contents

Main findings ......................................................................................................................................... 5

1. Respondents travel profiles in 2009 ................................................................................................ 8

1.1 Proportion of respondents who travelled in 2009 ......................................................................... 81.2 Short private and holiday trips in 2009 ...................................................................................... 9

1.3 Frequency of short private and holiday trips ........................................................................... 13

2. Reasons for not taking a holiday in 2009....................................................................................... 18

3. Characteristics of respondents main holiday trip in 2009 .......................................................... 22

3.1 The major motivation for going on holiday in 2009 ................................................................... 22

3.2 Methods of transport used for 2009 holidays .............................................................................. 24

3.3 How respondents organised a holiday trip in 2009 ..................................................................... 26

4. Financial aspects: types of holiday leisure activities that would be given up first .................... 29

5. Considerations when planning a holiday and choosing a destination ........................................ 32

5.1 Choosing a holiday destination ................................................................................................... 32

5.2 Preferred holiday destinations ..................................................................................................... 35

5.3 Anticipated benefits of emerging destinations ............................................................................ 37

5.4 Sources of information used when making holiday plans ........................................................... 40

6. Vacation plans for 2010 .................................................................................................................. 45

6.1 Types of vacation ........................................................................................................................ 45

6.2 Financial constraints on holidays in 2010 ................................................................................... 49

6.3 Planned destinations .................................................................................................................... 52

I. Annex Tables .................................................................................................................................... 57

II. Survey details .................................................................................................................................. 90

III. Questionnaire ................................................................................................................................ 94

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Flash EB N o 291 Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism, wave 2 Analytical report

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Introduction

This Flash Eurobarometer Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism (No 291) has beenconducted at the request of Directorate General Enterprise and Industry in the 27 EU Member Statesand in five additional countries: Croatia, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,

Norway and Iceland.

The objectives of this survey were, to study:

Respondents travel profiles in 2009 distinguishing between short private and holiday tripsreasons why respondents did not go on holiday in 2009characteristics of citizens ma in holiday trip in 2009 (e.g. method of transport used)the financial aspects of taking a holiday (e.g. how to save money while on holiday)various attitudes of citizens towards tourism (e.g. their preferred holiday destinations)respondents vacation plans for 2010.

In February 2009, a similar Flash Eurobarometer was conducted (N o 258) 1 in the 27 EU Member

States; this survey asked EU citizens about their holidays in 2008 and their vacation plans for 2009.The current report presents comparative data between the two waves.

The fieldwork was conducted from 5 and 9 February 2010. Over 30,000 randomly selected citizensaged 15 and over were interviewed in the 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Turkey, the formerYugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Norway and Iceland. The sample size varied between countries,ranging from about 500 in the smallest to about 2,000 in the largest countries (see section Surveydetails in the Annex where the actual sample sizes for the 32 countries are indicated).

Interviews were predominantly carried out by telephone. However, due to the low fixed-line telephonecoverage in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania andSlovakia, face-to-face interviews were also conducted in those countries (700 telephone and 300 face-to-face interviews). Note: Flash Eurobarometer surveys systematically include mobile phones insamples in Austria, Finland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

To correct for sampling disparities, a post-stratification weighting of the results was implemented, based on the main socio-demographic variables. More details on survey methodology are included inthe Annex of this report (see section Survey details ).

Some questions in this survey were only presented to a sub-group of respondents (e.g. only those whohad not travelled in 2009); as a result, the sample size per country could be relatively small. In theevent that the sample size for a country was below 150 (an unweighted number), a cautionary note has

been added in the report. Furthermore, where the report compares individual country results between

waves, it only discusses differences statistically significant at the 0.05 level.

1 http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_258_en.pdf

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Main findings

Travel trends in 2009

About two-thirds (65%) of EU citizens said they had travelled for private reasons at least once in2009: 27% had made at least one holiday trip and at least one short private trip, the same

proportion had made at least one holiday trip but no short private trips and 11% had made at leastone short private tri p but no holiday trips. One-third of EU citizens had not travelled for leisure

purposes in 2009.

Countries where respondents were less likely to have travelled for leisure purposes included someEastern European countries Hungary (57%), Latvia (54%) and Romania (51%) and a fewSouthern European countries Malta (58%), Portugal (48%) and Italy (44%).

Comparing travel for leisure purposes in 2008 and 2009, it could be seen that, although similar proportions of EU citizens had travelled at least once, there had been a decrease in those who hadmade at least one short private trip and at least one holiday trip (from 39% in 2008 to 27% in

2009). Conversely, the proportion of EU citizens who had made at least one holiday trip but noshort private ones had increased in that timeframe.

Outlook for 2010

As to how many EU citizens would actually take a vacation in 2010, no clear picture emerged. Atthe time of the survey (February 2010), 28% of EU citizens were undecided about the type ofvacation they wanted to take.

At the time of the survey, the proportion of EU citizens who were certain that they would not travel in 2010 (21%) was below the proportion of those who had not travelled in 2009 (33%). Itremains to be seen what proportion of the currently undecided ones (28%) would eventually take aholiday.

Turkish respondents were the most likely not to be planning a holiday in 2010 (44%); they werefollowed by respondents in Hungary (40%), Slovakia (36%), Italy and Malta (both 35%). The

proportions of those still undecided about their vacation plans in 2010 were the highest in Italyand Portugal (both 35%).

EU citizens who were already planning a 2010 holiday (49% in total) were most likely to beconsidering one of 4-13 consecutive nights (19%). Fifteen percent of EU citizens said they were

planning one of at least two weeks or more. One or more short-stay trips (one to three nights awayfrom home) was the option chosen by 7% of EU citizens and 8% were thinking of a combinationof longer holidays and shorter trips.

When asked about their 2010 holiday destination, roughly a third (32%) of EU citizens said theywere planning to stay in their home country. Comparing 2009 and 2010 results showed that EUcitizens were now less likely to be planning a holiday outside of the EU (15% vs. 20% in 2009).

Travel budgets in 2009 and 2010

Across almost all countries included in this study, the largest proportion of respondents who hadnot taken a holiday in 2009 said this for financial reasons. Such reasons were cited by more than6 in 10 respondents in Bulgaria (65%), Romania (62%), Hungary and the former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia (both 61%).

EU citizens perceptions about their holiday budgets have slightly improved compared to 2009:almost half (46%) of those who were planning to spend a holiday away from home in 2010 said

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they had sufficient funds to do this by comparison, in 2009, this proportion was 41% (five percentage points lower).

Nonetheless, about 4 in 10 (39%) EU citizens said they would need to make extra savings in orderto take their planned holidays and 1 in 10 said they had serious financial problems that couldimpact holiday plans.

In Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Romania, of those respondents who were planning avacation in 2010, a quarter or less felt they could afford this without any problems.

When asked which holiday leisure activities EU citizens would give up first if savings wereneeded when they were actually on vacation, the largest proportions of interview ees beauty orwellness treatments (24%) and shopping (21%).

Holiday focus and attractions

The largest proportion of holidaymakers across the EU (37%) said that the major motivation fortheir main holiday in 2009 had been rest and recreation. About a fifth (19%) had wanted asun/beach holiday and 17% said the main objective had been to visit friends or relatives .

In almost all countries surveyed, respondents who preferred to spend their holidays in traditionaltourist destinations outnumbered thos e who favoured visiting alternative or emerging touristlocations. Countries with a high proportion of respondents who preferred emerging touristdestinations were Latvia, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Iceland, Sweden and Croatia (37%-39%).

Those respondents attracted to non-conventional destinations were most likely to expect that thiswould allow them to explore local cultures and lifestyles (45%) compared to 12% who thoughtthere would be lower prices.

When deciding on a holiday destination, the largest proportions (32%) of EU citizens named alocations overall attractiveness as the key consideration. Cultural heritage (25%) and options forentertainment (16%) were the second and third most mentioned factors that influenced a choice ofdestination.

Arranging a holiday

Almost half (48%) of holidaymakers from the EU had travelled to their main destination by car ormotorbike, and approximately one-third (35%) had taken a flight.

In almost all countries surveyed (27 out of 32), at least half of holidaymakers had organised theirholiday on their own. The proportions of holidaymakers who had done this were the highest inCroatia (83%), Turkey (82%) and Hungary (80%).

Thirteen percent of EU citizens had booked travel tickets or accommodation through a travelagency. About a fifth of EU citizens who took a holiday in 2009 had opted for a package tour orall-inclusive holiday, either booked via the Internet (11%) or through a travel agency (10%).

Fifty-eight percent of EU citizens said that the views of friends and colleagues were the (first orsecond) most important sources of information when making decisions about travel and holiday

plans. The Internet was considered to be the main source by 42% of respondents, and a lower proportion (31%) mentioned personal experience.

Holidaymakers who had taken a vacation with a cultural focus were less likely than theircounterparts to rely on personal experience (25% compared to, for example, 32% of those who

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had wanted rest and recreation) and more likely to rely on guidebooks and magazines (17%compared to, for example, 10% of holidaymakers who had wanted a sun/beach holiday).

As in 2009, the largest difference in terms of information sources when comparing respondentswith a preference for off the beaten track holidays and those who preferred more traditionaldestinations was seen when looking at the importance of the Internet : 51% of the former

respondents felt that it was an important source of information when planning a holiday comparedto 39% of the latter.

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1. Respondents t ravel profiles in 2009

1.1 Proportion of respondents who travelled in 2009

Almost 7 out of 10 EU citizens said they had travelled, either for business or private purposes, at leastonce in 2009 (69%; -2 percentage points compared to 2008 2). Note: travelling was defined as spendingone night away from home, for private or business purposes.

Proportion of EU citizens who had travelled(minimum one night away from home, for private or business purposes)

Have nottravelled in2008, 28

Havetravelled in

2008, 71

DK/NA, 2

Q1. During 2008/2009, how many times have you travelled for business or privatepurposes where you were away from home for a minimum of one night?

%, Base: all respondents, EU27

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)

Have nottravelled in2009, 30

Havetravelled in2009, 69

DK/NA, 1

Countr y vari ations 3

The individual country results showed that Norwegians were the most likely to have travelled, for business or private purposes, at least once in 2009 (89%). High proportions of travellers were alsoobserved in Finland (87%), Denmark (86%), Iceland (85%), Sweden and the Netherlands (both 84%).In contrast, in Turkey (37%), Malta (44%) and Hungary (48%), less than half of interviewees hadtravelled away from home, for a minimum of one night, at least once in the past year.

2 Flash Eurobarometer N o 258 was conducted in February 2009 and asked EU citizens if they had travelled, for business or private purposes, in 2008.3 Country charts in this report show the results for each of the 27 EU Member States and for Croatia, Turkey, theformer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, No rway and Iceland. The EU27 results present the average

proportion for the 27 EU Member States (and therefore excluding Croatia, Turkey, the former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia, Norway and Iceland) taking into account differences in population size acrossindividual Member States.

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Proportion of respondents who had travelled in 2009(minimum one night away from home, for private or business purposes)

89 87 86 85 84 84 81 81 80 79 78 76 75 74 72 70 69 68 66 65 65 65 63 61 59 58 5856 56 51 48 44

37

0

20

40

60

80

100

N O F

I D K I S S E N

L S I L U I E D

E A T

F R C

Y E L

U K

E E

E U 2 7 E

S H R P

L L T

B E

M K

B G C

Z S K I

T L V P

T R O

H U

M T

T R

Q1. During 2009, how many times have you travelled for business or private purposes where you were away from home for a minimum of one night?

%, Base: all respondents, by country

Socio-demographic considerations 4

The older the respondents, and the earlier they had finished their education, the less likely they were tohave travelled in 2009. Indeed, 61% of the over 54 year-olds had travelled in 2009, for business or

private purposes, compared to 77% of 15-24 year-olds. Similarly, while 47% of respondents with thelowest level of education had travelled in 2009, this proportion increased to 84% for respondents withthe highest level of education.

The proportion of travellers was also higher among EU citizens living in metropolitan areas (78% vs.66% of rural residents and 69% of those living in urban areas) and among employees and the self-employed (83% and 75%, respectively, vs. 61% of non-working respondents and 63% of manual

workers).

For further details, see annex table 1b.

1.2 Short private and holiday trips in 2009

The previous section looked at the proportion of respondents who had travelled for business or private purposes in 2009. This next section focuses solely on travel for private purposes distinguishing between short private and holiday trips as defined below.

Short private trips: spending between one and three nights away from home for privatereasons

Holiday trips: spending four nights or more away from home on holiday while staying in paid accommodation or in a second home.

4 This section and other sections discussing results by socio-demographic characteristics focuses solely oninterviews conducted in the EU (i.e. they do not include Croatia, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia, Iceland and Norway).

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About two-thirds (65%) of EU citizens said they had travelled for private reasons at least once in2009 5: 27% had made at least one holiday trip and at least one short private trip, the same proportionhad made at least one holiday trip but no short private trips and 11% had made at least one short

private trip but no holiday trips. One-third of EU citizens had not travelled for leisure purposes in2009. 6

Short private

trips and/or holiday trips EU27

9

19

39

32

2 Only short private trips

Only holiday trips (4 nights)

Both short private trips andholiday trips

No short private trips or noholiday trips

DK/NA

Q2. And how many of these were short private trips, where you stayed away for less than four nights?Q3(2010)/Q4(2009). How many times did you go on holiday in 2009/2008, where you either stayed in paid

accommodation / or in your second home for a minimum of four nights?%, Base: all respondents, EU27

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

11

27

27

33

2

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)

Comparing travel for leisure purposes in 2008 and 2009, it can be seen that, although similar

proportions of EU citizens had travelled at least once (65% in 2009 vs. 67% in 2008), the proportion

of EU citizens who had made at least one short private trip and at least one holiday trip hasdecreased from 39% in 2008 to 27% in 2009 (-12 percentage points). Conversely, an increase can beseen, from 2008 to 2009, in the proportion of EU citizens who had made at least one holiday trip butno short private trips (from 19% in 2008 to 27% in 2009; +8 percentage points). Almost no changewas seen in the proportion of respondents who had made at least one short private trip but noholiday trips (11% in 2009 vs. 9% in 2008).

Countr y variati ons

The individual country results showed a ranking that was similar to the one observed for the results oftravel in general (for business and private purposes section 1.1). The proportion of respondents whohad not made any short private or holiday trips in 2009 ranged from 10% in Norway to 66% inTurkey. It was not only Norway, but also the other Nordic countries Finland (14%), Sweden (16%),Denmark (19%) and Iceland (20%) that were among the countries where one in five respondents orfewer had not taken such private trips in 2009. Countries where respondents were less likely to havetravelled for leisure purposes included some Eastern European countries Hungary (57%), Latvia(54%) and Romania (51%) and a few Southern European countries Malta (58%), Portugal (48%)and Italy (44%).

5 By comparison, in February 2009, 50% of EU citizens said they were planning a holiday in 2009 compared to18% who were certain they would not take a vacation in 2009; 28% were still undecided about their vacation

plans for 2009 at the time of the fieldwork.6 When comparing responses for the total number of trips taken (including business, see section 1.1 Q1) andthe number of trips made for private reasons, it appears that only a minority (3%) of EU citizens had onlytravelled on business. About half (51%) of EU citizens had only travelled for private reasons, while 14% hadtravelled for both business and private purposes.

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A slim majority (52%) of interviewees in Norway had made at least one short private trip and atleast one holiday trip in 2009. In Finland, Ireland and Sweden, more than 4 in 10 respondents hadmade at least one short private trip and at least one holiday trip (46%, 43% and 42%, respectively).In Latvia, Malta and Turkey, on the other hand, this proportion was just 8%-9%.

Respondents in Cyprus and Belgium were the most likely to have made at least one holiday trip, but

no short private trips (44% and 42%, respectively). In Luxembourg, the Netherlands and France,roughly a third (32%-34%) had made only holiday trips in 2009. The proportion of respondents, whohad made at least one short private trip but no holiday trips in 2009, was the highest in Finland(23%), Latvia (21%) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (19%).

Short private trips and/or holiday trips in 2009

52 4637 43 40 34 37 42 30 32

22 2840

31 29 27 25 18 26 2530 28 24 27 18 20 25 20 14 8

17 9 9

2114 34 22 29 32 29 17 34 27 44 33

1524 22 27 31 42 21 16 12

2017

2228 16 15 21

1816

15 2715

1123 8 13 7 11 11 17 11 15 8 10 16 13 15 11 8 3 15

19 17 10 15 6 9 17 13 715

21 103

9

10 14 19 20 21 22 19 16 24 24 26 27 20 29 31 33 34 36 31 3938

3937 42 44 42 44 48 51 54 57 58 66

0

20

40

60

80

100

N O F

I N L I E S

I L U

D K S E D

E A T

C Y

F R I S U

K E L

E U 2 7 E

S B E

E E

M K L

T P L

H R C

Z I T B G S K P

T R O L

V H U

M T

T R

Short private trips and holiday trips Only holiday trips ( 4 nights)Only short private trips No short private trips or holiday tripsDK/NA

Q2. And how many of these were short private trips, where you stayed away for less than four nights?Q3. How many times did you go on holiday in 2009, where you either stayed in paid accommodation /

or in your second home for a minimum of four nights?%, Base: all respondents, by country

Although the EU aggregated results showed a decrease in the proportion of EU citizens who had madeat least one short private trip and at least one holiday trip (from 39% in 2008 to 27% in 2009),similar proportions of EU citizens had travelled at least once (65% in 2009 vs. 67% in 2008); thistrend was also seen in a majority of individual EU Member States 7.

Cyprus and Spain have seen the largest decrease in the proportion of EU citizens who had made atleast one short private trip and at least one holiday trip: in 2008, 53% of Spanish and 50% of Cypriotrespondents had travelled for leisure purposes; but in 2009 the figures were 25% and 22%,

respectively (both -28 percentage points). The proportion of Cypriots and Spaniards who had made atleast one holiday trip but no short private trips, however, increased by more than 20 percentage points(Cyprus: from 21% in 2008 to 44% in 2009; Spain: from 10% in 2008 to 31% in 2009). Note thatalmost no change was seen in the proportion of Cypriots and Spaniards who had not travelled forleisure purposes.

A slightly different picture emerged when looking at the results for Malta and Greece. Both countrieshave seen a decrease in the proportion who had made at least one short private trip and at least oneholiday trip (Malta: from 35% in 2008 to 9% in 2009; Greece: from 49% in 2008 to 29% in 2009).Furthermore, these countries have seen an increase in the proportion who had not travelled for leisure

purposes; in 2008, 21% of Greek and 50% of Maltese respondents had not made any private trips; in

7 The survey conducted in February 2009 focussed solely on the 27 EU Member States and did not includeCroatia, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland and Norway.

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2009, these proportions have increased to 31% and 58%, respectively (+10 and +8 percentage pointincreases).

In Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Denmark and France, on the other hand, almost no change was seen inthe results of travel for private purposes (distinguishing between short private trips and holiday trips).For example, in 2009, 28% of Polish respondents had made at least one holiday trip and at least one

short private trip, 20% had made at least one holiday trip but no short private trips and 10% hadmade at least one short private trip but no holiday trips; the corresponding proportions for 2008 were29%, 16% and 9%, respectively.

Socio-demographic considerations

In accordance with the results for travel in general (for business and private purposes), certain socio-demographic groups were less likely to have travelled for leisure purposes: the over 54 year-olds (41%had not travelled vs. 26% of 15-24 year-olds), respondents with the lowest level of education (56% vs.18% or those with the highest level of education), rural residents (37% vs. 24% of metropolitanresidents), manual workers and non-working respondents (41% vs. 19% of employees).

Frequent travellers i.e. those who had made at least one short private trip and one holiday trip in2009 were more likely to be highly educated (40% vs. 11% of respondents with the lowest level ofeducation), employees (38% vs. 18% of manual workers) and living in metropolitan areas (36% vs.23% of rural residents). Full-time students, 25-39 year-olds and self-employed respondents, however,were also more likely than their counterparts to have made both short private trips and holiday trips(all 32%-33%).

Short private and/or holiday trips in 2009

(row %)

Short privatetrips

and holidaytrips

Only holidaytrips

Only shortprivate trips

No shortprivate tripsor holiday

trips

DK/NA

EU27 27 27 11 33 2Male 28 26 11 32 2

Female 25 28 11 34 2

AGE: 15-24 30 29 13 26 2

AGE: 25-39 33 29 11 27 2

AGE: 40-54 29 26 11 32 2

AGE: 55+ 20 28 10 41 2

Self-employed 33 25 11 28 3

Employees 38 29 11 19 2

Manual workers 18 27 13 41 1

Not working 20 27 10 41 2

Metropolitan zone 36 29 10 24 2

Other town/urban/centre 26 27 11 33 2

Rural zone 23 27 11 37 2

EDUCATION: -15 years of age 11 24 8 56 1

EDUCATION: 16-20 24 27 11 35 2

EDUCATION: 20+ 40 28 11 18 2

EDUCATION: Still in education 32 30 13 23 2Q2. And how many of these were short private trips, where you stayed away for less than four nights?

Q3. How many times did you go on holiday in 2009, where you either stayed in paid accommodation / or in your secondhome for a minimum of four nights?

%, Base: all respondents, EU27; by socio-demographics

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1.3 Frequency of short private and holiday trips

Frequency of short private trips

Focusing solely on EU citizens who had made at least one short private trip in 2009, it was notedthat a majority had made one or two such trips (34% and 25%, respectively); these results were similar

to those for the frequency of short private trips in 2008. Thirteen percent of EU citizens had madethree short private trips , roughly 1 in 10 (11%) had made four or five short private trips, 8% hadmade between 6 and 10 such trips and 7% had made more than 10 short private trips.

33

24

12

12

10

6

3

1

2

3

4 - 5

6 - 10

10+

DK/NA

Number of short private trips EU27(less than four nights away from home)

Q2. And how many of these were short private trips, where you stayed away for less than four nights?%, Base: who made at least one short private trip, EU27

34

25

13

11

8

7

2

1

2

3

4 - 5

6 - 10

10+

DK/NA

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)

In a majority of countries surveyed, at least half of respondents who had made short private tripsin 2009 said they had made one or two such trips (ranging from 50% in Lithuania to 78% inBelgium). Furthermore, in Malta 8 and Belgium, a majority had made one short private trip in 2009(57% and 56%, respectively).

In Sweden (22%), Norway (25%), Finland and Bulgaria (both 28%), more than a fifth of respondents who had made short private trips in 2009 had taken more than five such trips 9. In Belgium, Malta,Luxembourg, Cyprus, Turkey and Estonia, less than a tenth (6%-8%) of interviewees had made atleast four short private trips.

8 Note: in Malta, just 67 respondents had made at least one short private trip in 2009 (an unweighted number).Some caution should therefore be exercised when interpreting the results for Malta in this section. In oneadditional country Cyprus less than 150 respondents answered this questions (n=140).9 Bulgarian respondents were less likely than Finnish respondents to have made short private trips in 2009(37% vs. 69%, see section 1.2). As a consequence looking at all respondents (and not only those respondentswho had made at least one short private trip) showed that Bulgarian respondents were only half as likely asFinnish respondents to have taken more than five such trips (11% vs. 21%).

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Number of short private trips in 2009

56 5746 44 40 40 41 36

46 4535 36 38 38 34 29 33 30 33 32 33 29 36 29 33 30 24 26 29 21 20 19 23

22 2026 28 30 29 27 29

19 1828 26 22 22 25 30 24 25 23 24 22 24 17 24 19 20

24 23 1822 23 20 15

8 4 15 13 11 14 13 11 6 15 11 1510

1613

1613 14 12 11 14 14 9 16 11 20 15 16 18

13 14 14 13

78

5 7 7 7 9 1512

9 11 12 14 9 1113

12 14 10 12 12 13 1513

1511

14 14 16

18 13 17 17

66

8 8 12 10 10 8 17 13 16 12 8 12 1510 17 15 20 20 17 17 18 18 20 17 19 17 19 22 25 28 28

0

20

40

60

80

100

B E

M T

L U C

Y N L

D E

A T

T R L

V H U E

S I T E E

R O

E U 2 7 I E D

K U K

F R E

L P T

P L

C Z S I H

R L T

S K I S

M K S E N

O F I B G

1 2 3 4-5 5+ DK/NA

Q2. And how many of these were short private trips, where you stayed away for less than four nights?%, Base: who made at least one short private trip in 2009, by country

Frequency of holiday trips

If we look at EU citizens who had been on holiday during 2009, it appears that almost half (48%) hadmade one holiday trip and 27% had taken two such trips. Twelve percent of holidaymakers had madethree holiday trips in 2009, 8% had made four or five such trips, but only 4% had taken more than fiveholidays. As in 2008, respondents were more likely to have made more than one short private tripthan to have taken more than one holiday.

45

28

12

9

4

2

1

1

2

3

4 - 5

6 - 10

10+

DK/NA

Number of holiday trips EU27(minimum four nights away from home)

Q3(2010)/Q4(2009). How many times did you go on holiday in 2009/2008, where you either stayed in paidaccommodation / or in your second home for a minimum of four nights?

%, Base: who made at least one holiday trip, EU27

48

27

12

8

3

1

2

1

2

3

4 - 5

6 - 10

10+

DK/NA

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)

Focusing solely on respondents who had made at least one holiday trip in 2009, a majority of theserespondents in 14 countries, and a relative majority in the other 18 countries, had made one holidaytrip in that year this proportion ranged from 35% in Norway to 66% in the former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia.

In almost all countries included in this study, the proportion of respondents who made at least threeholiday trips remained below a third (ranging from 13% in Malta and the Czech Republic to 31% in

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Sweden). In Luxembourg and Norway, however, roughly a third (34%) of respondents who had beenon holiday during 2009, had actually made at least three such trips in 2009; in Finland, this proportionreached 41%.

Number of holiday trips in 2009

66 62 62 59 59 59 57 57 56 56 55 54 53 52 50 49 48 48 48 45 45 44 44 43 42 42 42 41 40 39 37 36 35

18 23 20 21 23 27 25 2030

21 21 24 22 19 27 25 23 25 27 29 27 25 29 23 31 30 26 27 31 2522 26 29

5 6 9 8 87 6

97

12 10 9 98

8 97 11

12 13 14 1213

914 16 15 12 14 13

13 1313

9 6 2 5 64 6 8

3 5 6 5 77

9 118

8 8 7 2 1010

6

9 8 10 99 15

15 812

2 42 4

5 6 5 3 3 5 4 6 76

5 54

7 5 6 11 7 3

9

4 2 5 6 3 6 1310

9

0

20

40

60

80

100

M

K S K

M

T R O

H

U T R P

L L T

C Z

C Y

P T I T B

G E E E

S F R

H R E

L

E U 2 7 B

E L V S I N

L I S I E D E

U K

D K

A T

L U F

I S E N

O

1 2 3 4-5 5+ DK/NA

Q3. How many times did you go on holiday in 2009, where you either stayed in paid accommodation /or in your second home for a minimum of four nights?

%, Base: who made at least one holiday trip in 2009, by country

Frequency of short private and holiday trips

When looking separately at the frequency of short private and holiday trips, not many differenceswere seen between the results for 2008 and 2009; however, when looking at the total number of trips i.e. summing the number of short private and holiday trips a very different picture emerged.

In 2008, 18% of EU citizens who had travelled for leisure purposes had made just one trip; in 2009,however, this proportion has increased to 27% (+9 percentage points). Seventeen percent had madefour or five short private trips or holiday trips in 2009 (-3 percentage points compared to 2008), 10%had made between 6 and 10 leisure trips (-4 percentage points) and 6% had made more than 10 suchtrips (-3 percentage points).

18

23

14

20

14

9

2

1

2

3

4 - 5

6 -10

10+

DK/NA

Number of short private trips and/or holiday trips EU27

Q2. And how many of these were short private trips, where you stayed away for less than four nights?

Q3(2010)/Q4(2009). How many times did you go on holiday in 2009/2008, where you either stayed in paidaccommodation / or in your second home for a minimum of four nights?%, Base: respondents who made at least one short private trip or holiday trip , EU27

27

22

16

17

10

6

2

1

2

3

4-5

6-10

10+

DK/NA

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)

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In most of the Nordic countries, less than a third of respondents who had travelled for leisure purposes in 2009 had only made one or two private trips: Sweden (28%), Finland and Norway (both29%) and Iceland (31%). In Malta, on the other hand, more than twice as many respondents had notmade more than one or two trips (51% had made one short private trip or holiday trip and 24% hadmade two such trips). Cyprus, Turkey and Latvia were closest to Malta with 61%-62% of respondentswho had made not more than two short private or holiday trips in 2009.

In Finland and Norway, a majority of respondents, who had travelled for private purposes in 2009,answered that they had been on at least four short private or holiday trips during that year (58% and55%, respectively). In sharp contrast, only 13% of Maltese respondents had made at least four short

private or holiday trips in 2009; Turkey, Belgium, Cyprus and Romania followed with between 21%and 24% of respondents who had made at least four private trips.

Number of short private trips and/or holiday trips in 2009

5141 39 36 36 35 35 34 32 32 30 29 28 27 27 27 27 26 26 25 25 23 23 22 22 22 20 20 17 16 15 13 11

24

20 23 2618 21 23 19 27 20 20 27 19 22 14

24 19 23 15 19 21 23 22 20 27 24 22 21 2213 16 15 18

715 5

1517 17 15

9

18

11 1310

16 16

10

1916 14

16 1115 22 13 13

15 2116 14 17

1217 15 12

7 1216

13 15 12 1416

1217 17

1716 17

18

1818 14

13 2015

1717 24

20 1920 21 23

2017 19 21

3 8 66 11 8 7

10

7

9 99

1010

13

9 1611

1317 12

913 8

11 9

12 11 1420 14 17 19

33 10 2 3 4 6 8

39 10 7 8 6

143 4

4 107 10 4 9 10

4 4 7 85

1810 11

15

0

20

40

60

80

100

M T

C Y

L V

T R I T R

O H U P

T B E

C Z

F R E

S P L

E U 2 7 B

G D E

M K

E E

H R S I E

L A T

S K L T

L U

N L

U K

D K I E F

I I S S E N O

1 2 3 4-5 6-10 10+ DK/NA

Q2. And how many of these were short private trips, where you stayed away for less than four nights?Q3. How many times did you go on holiday in 2009, where you either stayed in paid accommodation /

or in your second home for a minimum of four nights?%, Base: respondents who made at least one short private trip or holiday trip in 2009, by country

Across almost all EU Member States, the current survey showed a reduction in the frequency of travelwhen compared to 2008 i.e. among respondents who had travelled for private purposes during 2009,there was an increase in the proportion who had made just one short private or holiday trip and adecrease in the proportion who had been on two or more private trips.

In accordance with the results discussed in the previous section, the largest increases in the proportionsof respondents who had travelled for private purposes in 2009, and had made just one short private or holiday trip, were seen in countries such as Malta (from 17% in 2008 to 51% in 2009; +34

percentage points) and Cyprus (from 16% to 41%; +25). In Poland and Denmark, on the other hand,virtually no changes were seen in these proportions.


The socio-demographic analysis of the frequency of travel showed that respondents with lower levelsor education and respondents living in rural areas were less likely to have made more than one trip forleisure purposes this effect was seen both when looking at the number of short private trips and thenumber of holiday trips. For example, while 69% of the most educated respondents who had madeshort private trips in 2009 had made at least two such trips during 2009, only 56% of the leasteducated respondents had done so. Similarly, while 57% of the former had made at least two holiday

trips in 2009, the corresponding proportion for the latter was 46%.

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The effect of age on the frequency of travel was only seen in terms of the number of holiday trips: thefrequency of such trips was highest among the over 54 year-olds 29% of them made at least threeholiday trips in 2009 vs. 22%-23% of respondents in the other age groups. The effect of gender , onthe other hand, was only seen in relation to the number of short private trips: men were more likely tohave made more than one such trip in 2009 (68% vs. 61% of women). Finally, the effect of therespondents occupational status was dependent on the type of travel: the frequency of short private

trips was lowest among non-working respondents (36% had made at least three such trips in 2009 vs.45% of self-employed respondents), while the frequency of holiday trips was lowest among manualworkers (15% had made at least three holiday trips during 2009 vs. 24%-27% of those in otheroccupational groups).

For more details, see annex tables 2b and 3b.

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2. Reasons for not taking a holiday in 2009

Respondents who had not taken a holiday in 2009 (and those who had not travelled at all) were askedto specify the main reason for not having gone on holiday. As in the previous wave of this survey,roughly 4 out of 10 (41%) EU citizens who had not gone on holiday in 2009 said this was due tofinancial reasons . All other explanations for not going on holiday (as listed in the survey) wereselected by considerably fewer respondents: 22% stated personal or private reasons , 13% said theyhad had no time and 9% had preferred to stay at home or with family and friends . A minority ofrespondents said they had not been motivated to take a holiday in 2009 (4%) or preferred to makeonly short trips (2%). Virtually no respondents (1%) said they had not gone on holiday because ofsafety/security considerations . These results are practically unchanged compared to 2008.

41

22

13

9

4

2

1

8

1

Financial reasons

Personal/private reasons

Lack of time

Prefer to stay at home or with family /friends

No motivation to take a holiday

Prefer to only make short-stay trips

Concerns about safety

Other

DK/NA

EU citizens m ain reason for not having gone on holiday

41

21

10

9

4

2

1

8

4

Financial reasons

Personal/private reasons

Lack of time

Prefer to stay at home or with family /friends

No motivation to take a holiday

Prefer to only make short-stay trips

Concerns about safety

Other

DK/NA

Q4(2010)/Q5(2009). What was the main reason why you did not go on holiday in 2009/2008?%, Base: respondents who did not make a holiday trip (and those who had not t ravelled at all), EU27

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)

Respondents not going on holiday in 2009 because of financial reasons

Across almost all countries included in this study, the largest proportion of respondents who had nottaken a holiday in 2009 said this was because of financial reasons . Such reasons were cited by morethan 6 in 10 respondents who did not make a holiday trip during that period in Bulgaria (65%),Romania (62%), Hungary and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (both 61%). In sharpcontrast, only about 1 in 10 respondents in Norway (12%) 10 and roughly a fifth in the Netherlands

(18%), Finland (20%), Sweden, Luxembourg and Belgium (all 21%) said they had not gone onholiday because they were financially constrained.

Looking at individual country results for the proportions of respondents who had not made any short private trips or holiday trips and the proportions of respondents who named financial obstacles for nothaving made any of such trips, similarities could be seen; for example:

Respondents in Hungary and Romania were not only among the most likely not to have travelledfor leisure purposes in 2009 (57% and 51%, respectively), but they were also among the mostlikely to say that this had been because of financial reasons (61%-62%).

10 Note: in Norway, just 102 respondents had not made a holiday trip in 2009 (an unweighted number). Somecaution should therefore be exercised when interpreting the results for Norway in this section.

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Respondents in Norway, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands, on the other hand, were the leastlikely not to have made a leisure trip in 2009 (between 10% and 19%) and to state that financialobstacles had prevented them from making such a trip (between 12% and 21%). 11

Financial reasons for not having gone on holiday in 2009

65 62 61 61 57 53 51 50 50 49 49 49 46 46 44 42 42 41 40 37 36 34 33 31 31 28 2821 21 21 20 18

12

0

20

40

60

80

100

B G

R O

H U

M K P

T H R E

S P L S I E

E L V

T R E

L M T L

T S K I

E

E U 2 7 C

Y U K F R D

E I T I S A T

D K C

Z B E

L U S E F

I N L

N O

Q4. What was the main reason why you did not go on holiday in 2009?%, Base: respondents who did not make a holiday trip in 2009 (and those who had not travelled at all in 2009), by country

When looking at the total EU population (i.e. all EU citizens and not just those who did not go onholiday in 2009), it can be seen that one out of six (18%) of all EU citizens had not gone on holiday in2009 for financial considerations 12. At the individual country level, this proportion ranged from about1 in 20 respondents in Norway (3%) and the Netherlands (5%) to approximately 4 out of 10 inBulgaria (40%), Hungary and Romania (both 41%).

Financial reasons for not having gone on holiday in 2009 Base: all respondents

41 41 40 37 37 36 32 28 28 25 25 25 23 22 22 18 18 15 14 14 14 13 13 12 12 11 8 8 7 7 7 5 30

20

40

60

80

100

H U

R O

B G

T R L

V M K P

T H R

M T

P L

L T

S K E E

E L

E S

E U 2 7 I T U

K I E S I

C Y

F R C

Z A T

D E I S D

K B E F

I S E L

U N L

N O

Q4. What was the main reason why you did not go on holiday in 2009?%, Base: all respondents, by country

A comparison between the reasons for not going on holiday in 2008 and in 2009 shows that the proportion of respondents who cited financial reasons has increased by more than 10 percentage pointsin Cyprus (from 25% in 2008 to 40% in 2009; +15 percentage points), Ireland (from 27% to 42%;

11 The correlation coefficient for the relationship between the proportion of respondents who had not made anyshort private trips or holiday trips and the proportion of respondents who named financial obstacles for nothaving made any such trips, in each EU country, was equal to .67 this number signifies a moderately strongcorrelation between the two variables at a country level.12 Note: Looking at the total EU population, 54% of all EU citizens had made at least one holiday trip in 2009,18% had not gone on holiday in 2009 for financial considerations and 26% listed non-financial reasons for nothaving gone on holiday (2% gave a dont know response). These proportions were calculated by combiningrespondents responses to question 3 (section 1.2) and question 4 (this section).

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page 20

+15), Slovenia (from 37% to 50%; +13), Lithuania (from 31% to 44%; +13) and Estonia (from 38% to49%; +11). An opposite trend was seen in Portugal: 66% of Portuguese respondents, who had not goneon holiday in 2008, said this was for financial reasons; the corresponding proportion in the currentsurvey was 57% (-19 percentage points).

Non-financial reasons for not going on holiday in 2009

Over a quarter of Dutch (33%), Italian (31%) and German (28%) interviewees had their holiday plansin 2009 disrupted because of personal reasons . Bulgarian and Romanian (both 10%), and Icelandicrespondents (12%) were the least likely to mention personal reasons for not having gone on holiday.

Personal or private reasons for not having gone on holiday in 2009

33 31 28 25 25 23 22 22 22 22 21 21 21 20 20 20 20 20 19 18 18 17 17 17 16 16 16 15 15 15 12 10 10

0

20

40

60

80

100

N L I T D

E L U

N O

D K

B E

E U 2 7 H

R F R E

S C Y F I A

T C Z

S K M T

U K P

L S E P

T L V L

T T R I E E

L M K

E E

H U S I I S R

O B G


The proportion of respondents who did not have time to go on holiday ranged from approximately 1in 20 respondents in Portugal (5%), Malta, Estonia, the UK and Slovenia (all 6%) to at least one infive respondents in Turkey (29%), Italy (24%), Luxembourg (22%) and Finland (20%).

Lack of time as a reason for not having gone on holiday in 2009

2924 22 20 18 16 15 15 15 15 13 13 13 12 12

11 11 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 6 6 6 6 50

20

40

60

80

100

T R I T L

U F I I S C

Y A T S E D

E P L

E L

B E

E U 2 7 R

O L T

N O C

Z L V

F R S K

N L

B G I E M

K E S

H R

D K

H U S I U

K E E

M T

P T


Similarly, the proportion of respondents who did not go on holiday because they preferred to stay athome or with friends or family was less than 1 in 20 respondents in Turkey (2%), the formerYugoslav Republic of Macedonia (3%), Lithuania and Bulgaria (both 4%), but was roughly a fifth in

Norway (20%), Belgium (19%) and Luxembourg (18%).

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Prefer to stay at home or with friends/family as a reason for not having gone on holidayin 2009

20 19 18 16 14 13 12 12 11 11 11 11 10 10 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 3 20

20

40

60

80

100

N O B

E L U F

I S E D

K U K A

T S I F R

N L I E D

E S K

E U 2 7 M

T C Z

P L

E E

E L

P T

L V

R O E

S I T I S C Y

H U

H R

B G L

T M K

T R


Other reasons for not having gone on holiday in 2009 such as not being motivated to take a holidayand a preference for short trips showed less variation across countries. The proportion of respondentswho said they had not been motivated to take a holiday in 2009 ranged from virtually none in Turkeyto 10% in Latvia. Similarly, the proportion of respondents who preferred to only make short trips ranged from virtually none in Turkey to 9% in Estonia. Finally, the proportion of interviewees whosaid they had not gone on holiday because of safety/security considerations remained below 3% inall countries surveyed.

For more details, see annex table 4a.


Financial reasons for not having gone on holiday in 2009 were cited more frequently by women, 25-54 year-olds, respondents with a lower level of education, manual workers and respondents living inurban areas. For example, while 52% of manual workers said financial considerations caused them notto take a holiday in 2009, only 33% of self-employed respondents and 40%-41% of non-workingrespondents and employees mentioned this as the main reason. Similarly, 31% of full-time studentsand 34% of respondents with the highest level of education, who did not go on holiday in 2009, saidthis was for financial reasons; this proportion increased to 42%-45% for respondents with a lowerlevel of education.

Women, the over 54 year-olds, respondents with the lowest and highest levels of education and non-working respondents were more likely than their counterparts to cite personal reasons for not havingtaken a holiday in 2009. For example, while almost three out of 10 (29%) of the oldest respondents

said they had not gone on holiday for personal reasons, just 15% of 15-24 year-olds and 18% of 25-54year-olds selected this response.

Finally, a lack of time was most frequently cited by 15-24 year-olds (25%), those still in education(26%) and self-employed respondents (28%). Other groups that were more likely than theircounterparts to answer that they had not gone on holiday due to a lack of time included men (15% vs.10% of women), 25-39 year-olds (18% vs. 6% of the over 54 year-olds), respondents with the highestlevel of education (16% vs. 7% of respondents with the lowest level of education), employees andmanual workers (15%-16% vs. 9% of non-working respondents).

For more details, see annex table 4b.

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page 22

3. Characteristics of respondents main holiday trip in 2009

Respondents who took at least one holiday in 2009 were asked a number of questions about their mainholiday trip in that year. More precisely, they were asked to specify their major motivation for thatvacation (i.e. recreation, city trip, visiting friends etc.), to identify the method of transport used and tosay how the holiday had been organised.

Note: In this chapter, all results presented focus solely on those respondents who went on holiday in2009 for br evity we often refer to these respondents as holidaymakers.

3.1 The major motivation for going on holiday in 2009

The largest proportion of holidaymakers across the EU (37%) said that the major motivation for theirmain holiday in 2009 had been rest and recreation . About a fifth (19%) had wanted a sun/beach holiday and 17% said the main objective had been to visit friends or relatives . City trips , nature and culture and religion were each selected by less than a tenth of holidaymakers (6% -7%). Less

than 1 in 20 EU citizens who took a holiday mentioned sports- or health-related factors as the majormotivation for their main holiday in 2009 (both 3%-4%). These results were, once again, similar tothose from the previous wave of the survey.

The major motivation for EU citizens main holiday trip

36

20

16

7

7

6

3

3

1

Rest / recreation

Sun / beach

Visiting friends / relatives

City trips

Culture / religion

Nature

Sports-related

Wellness / health treatment

DK/NA

Q5(2010)/Q6(2009). What was the major motivation for your main holiday trip in 2009/2008?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip , EU27

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

37

19

17

7

6

6

4

3

1

Rest / recreation

Sun / beach

Visiting friends / relatives

City trips

Nature

Culture / religion

Sports-related

Wellness / health treatment

DK/NA

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)


In almost all countries included in this study, the largest proportion of holidaymakers said they werelooking in the first place for rest and recreation when they went on their main holiday in 2009. The

pro portions selecting rest and recreation were the highest in Cyprus (65%) and Malta (62%).

In Austria, Norway and Sweden, on the other hand, just 22% of interviewees said this had been theirmotivation and a similar, or even higher, proportion said they had wanted a sun/beach holiday (22%,25% and 26%, respectively). Sun/beach was also among the three most mentioned factors that hadmotivated respondents (in second/third position) in almost all other countries. Respondents in theformer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (31%), Slovenia and the UK (both 27%) were the most likelyto answer that they had wanted a sun/beach holiday.

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page 23

In Latvia, on the other hand, almost equal proportions of respondents said that they had beenmotivated to find rest and recreation (37%) or to visit friends or relatives (38%). The proportionmentioning such social reasons for their main holiday trip in 2009 was also high in Estonia and Turkeywhere 24%-25% of respondents had visited friends or relatives (second position).

The major motivation for respondents main holiday trip in 2009

(three most mentioned motivations)361616

4021

17

4424

8

2918

15

3019

13

3524

14

5317

14

35

2118

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Sports-related

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach Visiting someone

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

EL

ES

Q5. What was the major motivation for your main holiday trip in 2009?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip in 2009, by country

3622

15

352323

4818

15

6517

10

3837

9

401715

281817

49

2213

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Culture/religion

Rest/recreation

City trips

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation


HU

IE

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

6214

8

4018

13

2221

12

4420

13

4224

18

4618

13

3027

14

42

2613

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Culture/religion

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Nature

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Culture/religion

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

City trips

Rest/recreation


SI

RO

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

SK

3522

11

262221

3627

21

3522

15

2522

18

4621

10

2825

15

48

3110

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Sun/beach

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Nature

Rest/recreation

Visiting someone

Sun/beach

Rest/recreation


TR

IS

FI

SE

UK

HR

NO

MK


Younger EU citizens were more attracted by sun and beach (24% of 15-24 year-olds vs. 13% of theover 54 year- olds), while older respondents more frequently selected wellness/health treatment, nature and culture and religion (for example, 9% of the over 54s selected nature compared to3% of 15-24 year-olds). The 25-54 year-olds, on the other hand, were more likely to say said that themajor motivation for their main holiday had been rest and recreation (40% -42% vs. 33%-34% ofyounger and older respondents).

As for the youngest respondents, full-time students were more likely to have wanted a sun/beachholiday (24% vs. 16%-21% of respondents who had completed their education) and they were lesslikely to mention rest and recreation (31% vs. 36% -39%). For EU citizens who were no longer ineducation, however, mainly small differences were seen: for example, across all educational levels,6%-7% mentioned nature-related holidays.

Finally, non- working respondents were less likely to have been motivated by rest and recreationwhen they went on their main holiday in 2009 (31% vs. 41%-44% across other occupationalcategories), but they were more likely to say that they had been motivated to visit friends or relatives(20% vs. 13%-17%).


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3.2 Methods of transport used for 2009 holidays

Almost half (48%) of holidaymakers from the EU had travelled to their main holiday destination bycar or motorbike, and approximately one-third (35%) had taken a flight. As in 2008, less than a fifth ofEU citizens who took a holiday had travelled by train (7%), bus (6%) or boat (2%).

Method of transport for EU citizens main holiday trip

47

36

7

6

3

0

1

0

Car / motorbike

Airplane

Bus

Train

Boat

Bicycle

Other

DK/NA

Q6(2010)/Q8(2009). How did you travel there in 2009/2008?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip, EU27

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

48

35

7

6

2

0

1

0

Car / motorbike

Airplane

Train

Bus

Boat

Bicycle

Other

DK/NA

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)


Approximately two-thirds of holidaymakers from Iceland and Hungary (both 67%) and Slovenia

(66%) had travelled by car or motorbike for their main holiday trip in 2009. Such a means oftransport was also frequent in Bulgaria and Romania (both 64%), Croatia (63%), France (62%) andPortugal (61%).

Not surprisingly, these methods of transport were the least popular among holidaymakers from thesmaller islands Malta (1%) and Cyprus (22%) and from Ireland (14%). As for holiday trips in2008, a large majority of holidaymakers in these countries travelled by plane for their main holiday in2009: 83% in Malta, 78% in Ireland and 74% in Cyprus. In sharp contrast, roughly a tenth, or less, ofBulgarian (6%), citizens of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (9%), Romanian (10%),Hungarian and Croatian (both 11%) holidaymakers had taken a flight to go on holiday in 2009.

Method of transport: car or motorbike

67 67 66 64 64 63 62 61 60 56 54 54 53 50 50 50 48 48 45 44 43 41 41 40 38 37 37 3527 24 22

14

10

20

40

60

80

100

I S H U S I B

G R O

H R F R P

T L T

M K P

L N L

B E

A T

D E

E L

E U 2 7 E

S S K L

U I T F I

T R

D K S E E

E L V C

Z N O

U K C

Y I E M T

Q6. How did you travel there in 2009?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip in 2009, by country

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Method of transport: airplane

83 7874

63 63

50 49 4846 39 38 38 36 36 35 35 35 34 33 30 29 26 25

19 18 18 18 16 11 11 10 9 6

0

20

40

60

80

100

M T I E C

Y N O

U K

D K S E L

U F I

A T I T B

E N L

E S

E U 2 7 E

E D E C

Z L V I S P

T S K F

R E L S I T

R L T

P L

H R

H U

R O

M K

B G

Q6. How did you travel there in 2009?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip in 2009, by country

As in the previous survey, holidaymakers from Greece (21%) with its many islands and Malta

(15%) were the most likely to have reached their holiday destination by boat . In all other countries,however, not more than 1 in 20 respondents had chosen this mean of transport.

Similarly, holidaymakers from Poland (14%), Romania (13%) and Hungary (10%) were once morethe most likely to have travelled to their main holiday destination by train . In sharp contrast, virtuallyno Cypriots, Maltese, Turkish or Icelanders had travelled by train.

Finally, buses were most frequently chosen by Turkish holidaymakers (39%), followed by those fromLatvia (25%), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (both 20%); however, virtually none of the Maltese orCypriot respondents had travelled by bus.

For details see annex table 6a.


Men were more likely to have travelled to their main holiday destination by car or motorbike (51% vs.45% of women). Across the different age groups, 25-54 year-old holidaymakers were most liable tohave travelled by car or motorbike (51%-55% vs. 40%-43% of 15-24 year-olds and the over 54s).Other groups of holidaymakers who were more likely to have travelled by car or motorbike weremanual workers and respondents living in rural areas.

The youngest and oldest holidaymakers (and those who were not working) were more likely to havegone on holiday by train or bus. For example, 9% of 15-24 year-olds and 11% of the over 54s had

travelled to their main holiday destination by bus, compared to just 3% of 25-54 year-olds. The buswas also more frequently chosen by respondents with the lowest level of education (13% vs. 4% ofrespondents with the highest level of education), while metropolitan residents were somewhat morelikely than rural residents to have taken the train (9% vs. 5%).

Flights tended to be chosen more frequently by 15-24 year-olds (39% vs. 34%-36% across other agegroups), those with the highest level of education (38% vs. 30% of the least educated respondents),metropolitan residents (40% vs. 32% of rural residents), self-employed respondents and employees(37%-39% vs. 27% of non-working respondents and 34% of manual workers).

For details see annex table 6b.

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page 26

3.3 How respondents organised a holiday trip in 2009

In 2009, almost 6 in 10 holidaymakers across the EU had personally organised their main holiday(58%; +2 percentage points compared to 2008). Around one in eight had booked travel tickets oraccommodation through a travel agency (13%; -3 percentage points compared to 2008).

About a fifth of EU citizens who took a holiday in 2009 had opted for a package tour or all inclusiveholiday, either booked via the Internet (11%) or through a travel agency (10%).

58

13

11

10

7

0

Travel / accommodation organisedindividually

Travel or accomodation booked through atravel agency

Package tour / All Inclusive holiday booked via the Internet

Package tour / All Inclusive holiday bookedthrough a travel agency

Other

DK/NA

How EU citizens organised their main holiday trip

56

16

10

9

9

1

Travel / accommodation organisedindividually

Travel or accomodation booked through atravel agency

Package tour / All Inclusive holiday booked via the Internet

Package tour / All Inclusive holiday bookedthrough a travel agency

Other

DK/NA

Q7(2010)/Q10(2009). How did you organize your main holiday trip in 2009/2008?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip, EU27

...in 2008Fl258 (02/2009)

...in 2009Fl291 (02/2010)


In almost all countries surveyed (27 out of 32), at least half of holidaymakers had organised theirholiday individually . The proportions of holidaymakers who had booked their main holidaythemselves were the highest in Croatia (83%), Turkey (82%) and Hungary (80%). In the CzechRepublic, the UK, Ireland, Malta and Belgium, on the other hand, less than half of interviewees, whohad made at least one holiday trip in 2009, had organised their main holiday themselves (between 42%and 47%).

As in the previous survey, in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, at least 3 in 10 holidaymakers hadused a travel agency to book travel or accommodation for their main holiday trip (34% and 30%,respectively). Holidaymakers from the UK, Ireland and Malta were the most likely to have booked apackage tour or all-inclusive holiday through a travel agency (12%-18%) or through the Internet

(18%-19%). Other countries with a high proportion of package tour or all-inclusive holiday bookedthrough a travel agency included Estonia, Austria, Latvia and Luxembourg (14%-15%), while othercountries with a high proportion of such a holiday booked through the Internet were the Netherlands(19%) and Denmark (17%).

It should, however, also be noted that, although Denmark and the Netherlands remained highly rankedcompared to other EU countries in terms of the proportion of package tour and all-inclusive holidays,

both countries have seen a large increase in the proportion of holidaymakers who had organised theirmain holiday themselves (Denmark: from 33% in 2008 to 51% in 2009; the Netherlands: from 39% in2008 to 50% in 2009; +18 and +11 percentage point increases).

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page 27

How respondents organised their main holiday trip in 2009

83 82 80 79 78 77 73 73 72 70 69 64 63 63 60 59 58 58 57 57 57 56 54 54 53 53 51 50 47 47 45 44 42

10 11 5 4 45

2012 11 3 17 9

217 9 12 13 13 18 17 12 14 18 16 16

3012 15 16 15 10 10

34

2 27 5 5 3

14 4

5

9

9

5

11 12 7 6 1110

11 13 7 10 8 11

5

17 19 14 1819 18

6

2 2 3 5 4 44

3 2 15

49

711 9 9 14

10 9 11 6

6

15 14 139

11 7 13 12 14 1813

2 2 4 7 8 72 8 11 7

1 9 4 7 8 12 7 75 4

10 173 6 7 4 9 9 10 7 11 9 5

0

20

40

60

80

100

H R

T R

H U E

L I S B G

M K P

L L T

L V I T F R S

I F I

S E R O E

E

E U 2 7 C

Y E S

N O P

T L U A

T D E S K D

K N L

B E

M T I E U

K C Z

Travel organised individually Travel booked through a travel agency Package tour booked via Internet Package tour booked through a travel agency Other DK/NA

Q7. How did you organize your main holiday trip in 2009?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip in 2009, by country

Di fferences by type of holi day 13

As in 2008, trips to visit relatives and friends, and recreation and wellness holidays were mostfrequently organised by the respondents themselves (75% and 61%, respectively). By comparison,45% of sun/beach holidays and 50% of cultural trips were organised in such a way.

Sixteen percent of holidaymakers, who had opted for a sun/beach holiday, had booked travel oraccommodation though a travel agency and roughly a third had booked a package tour or an allinclusive holiday via a travel agency (18%) or though the Internet (14%). The corresponding

proportions for vacations with an accent on culture were 17%, 10% and 15%, respectively.

How respondents organised their main holiday trip(column %)

Focus of the main holiday

SocialRecreation/ Wellness Sun/Beach Culture

I n 2 0 0 8

I n 2 0 0 9

I n 2 0 0 8

I n 2 0 0 9

I n 2 0 0 8

I n 2 0 0 9

I n 2 0 0 8

I n 2 0 0 9

Travel / accommodation organised individually 71 75 58 61 47 45 47 50

Travel or accommodation booked through a travel agency 9 8 15 13 19 16 21 17

Package tour/All Inclusive holiday booked via the Internet 6 8 10 10 13 14 10 10

Package tour/ All Inclusive holiday booked through a travel agency 3 2 8 8 14 18 13 15

Other 10 7 9 7 6 6 8 8Q5(2010)/Q6(2009). What was the major motivation for your main holiday trip in 200x?

Q7(2010)/Q10(2009). How did you organize your main holiday trip in 200x?%, Base: respondents who made at least one holiday trip, EU27 (DK/NA not shown)

13 Please note that for further analysis, this report will feature four groups of holidaymakers based on the mainfocus/objective of their 2009 holiday (see section 3.1). These objectives can be summarised as holidays thathave:

a recreational focus (i.e. to rest, enjoy nature, go to wellness centre/health spa, etc.)an emphasis on going to the beach or going to the sun an accent on culture (making city trips, going to events or specifically looking for opportunities to meet people of different cultures or religions) primarily a social context where the main goal is visiting family or friends.

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page 28


Holidaymakers who organised their trip individually were more likely to be aged 25-54 (61%-62% vs.53% of 15-24 year-olds and 55% of the over 54s), highly-educated (64% vs. 54% of the least-educated), living in metropolitan areas (63% vs. 55% of rural residents) and self-employed (63% vs.56% of non-working respondents).

The over 54 year-olds, holidaymakers with a lower level of education and non-working holidaymakerswere more likely than their counterparts to have used a travel agency to book travel or accommodationor to book a package tour or all-inclusive holiday. For example, 14% of the least-educated respondentshad booked a package tour though a travel agency, compared to only half as many (7%) of those withthe highest level of education.

The proportion of package tour and all-inclusive holidays booked via the Internet was higher foryounger holidaymakers (13% of 15-24 year-olds vs. 7% of the over 54s), those with a higher level ofeducation (11% vs. 6% of the least-educated ones), respondents in employment (12%-13% vs. 8% ofnon-working respondents).


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page 29

4. Financial aspects: types of holiday leisure activities that would be given up first

When asked which holiday leisure activities EU citizens would give up first if savings were neededwhen they were actually on holiday, the largest proportions of interviewees selected as in February

2009 beauty or wellness treatments (24%) and shopping (21%).

EU citizens were once again less likely to be willing to reduce visits to restaurants and bars to savemoney while on holiday (14%; -4 percentage points compared to 2009). A similar proportion would bewilling to give up or reduce sports activities while on holiday (12%; -3 percentage points compared to2009) and a slightly lower proportion (10%) would reduce spending on entertainment, such as visits tothe theatre.

Finally, 10% of EU citizens would reduce none of the listed leisure activities, while 8% said theywould try to save money by reducing all types of activities (as listed in the survey).

Holiday leisure activities that EU citizens would reduce most to save money when on holiday

23

23

16

9

8

87

6

Shopping

Beauty/Wellness treatments

Restaurants and cafes

Entertainment (movies, theatres)

Sports and other activities

None (I would not reduce any)

All of these

DK/NA

Q8(2010)/Q15(2009). When you are actually on holiday, what kind of leisure spending are you willing to reduce the most ?%, Base: all respondents, EU27

24

21

12

12

10

108

4

Beauty/Wellness treatments

Shopping

Restaurants and cafes

Sports and other activities

Entertainment (movies, theatres)

None (I would not reduce any)

All of these

DK/NA

Fl258 (02/2009) Fl291 (02/2010)


The chart on the following page shows for each country the most frequently mentioned holidayleisure activities that respondents would give up first if savings were needed when they were actually

on holiday.

Interviewees in a majority of countries surveyed selected the same leisure activities: they were mostwilling to reduce or give up beauty or wellness treatments and shopping . For example, 29% ofBelgian respondents selected beauty or wellness treatments (first position) and 20% mentionedshopping (second position).

In 12 countries, reducing visits to restaurants and bars ranked among the three most frequentlymentioned leisure activities that respondents would give up first to save money while on holiday. Forexample, 29% of Slovenes would reduce or give up shopping (first position), 22% said the same about

beauty and wellness treatments (second position) and 15% opted to give up visits to restaurants and bars (third position). Sports and other activities appeared in the top three of most mentioned leisure

activities (to be given up) in 10 countries; for example, this type of activities was selected by 19% ofinterviewees in Luxembourg (third position) and 13% in the Netherlands (second position).

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page 30

Saving money on entertainment , however, appeared among the three most mentioned activities in just four countries: Turkey (20%, second position), Slovakia (16%, third position), the Czech Republicand Poland (13%, third position).

Respondents in Croatia were the most likely to say they would reduce all types of leisure activities when trying to save money while on holiday (23%, first position). Reducing all types of activities

was also the most frequently given response in Portugal and Italy (21% and 19%, respectively) andappeared among the most frequently mentioned responses in Bulgaria, Lithuania and the formerYugoslav Republic of Macedonia (18%, second position), and Romania (15%, third position).

Finally, 25% of Cypriots and 19% of Finns said they would reduce none of the listed leisureactivities both countries have seen an increase of more than 10 percentage points in the proportionof respondents who gave this response in comparison to 2009. Other countries where this responsewas given more frequently were Turkey (18%), Belgium (17%), Spain (15%), Greece and Iceland(both 14%).

Holiday leisure activities that respondents would reduce most to save money when on holiday(three most mentioned leisure activities)

2920

17

2418

14

2320

13

301615

2827

12

2219

15

2323

14

2521

15

Beauty/WellnessShopping

None

Restaurants All of these

Shopping

ShoppingBeauty/Wellness

Entertainment


Sports


Sports

RestaurantsShopping

Beauty/Wellness


None


None

BE

BG

CZ

DK

DE

EE

ES

EL

Q8. When you are actually on holiday, what kind of leisure spending are you willing to reduce the most?%, Base: all respondents, by country

2718

14

2522

18

1919

17

2525

18

2721

13

281816

2624

19

2423

15


Restaurants

ShoppingRestaurants

Sports

All of theseBeauty/Wellness

Shopping

ShoppingNone

Beauty/Wellness

RestaurantsShopping

All of these

Restaurants All of these

Shopping


Sports


Restaurants

HU

IE

FR

IT

CY

LV

LT

LU

2921

12

391312

3227

11

2917

13

211816

2118

15

2922

15

2618

16


Sports

Beauty/WellnessSports

Shopping


Sports


Entertainment

All of theseRestaurants

Beauty/Wellness

ShoppingRestaurants All of these


Restaurants


Entertainment

MT

NL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

1918

16

271917

2219

17

2320

15

2821

14

2322

14

2520

18

2218

14

NoneBeauty/Wellness

Restaurants


Sports


Sports

All of theseRestaurants

Beauty/Wellness


Sports


None

ShoppingEntertainment

None

Beauty/Wellness All of these

Shopping

FI

SE

UK

HR

NO

IS

TR

MK


Older respondents, those with low levels of education and non-working respondents were not onlymore likely than their counterparts to say that they would give up or reduce all types of activities whentrying to save money w

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