More than 43% of Irish holidaymakers are planning to take 3 or more holidays this year.
That is according to the latest annual travel survey from travel insurance specialist Multitrip.com, which found that Irish families are reluctant to give up travel despite the cost of living crisis.
The proportion of respondents extremely comfortable with the idea of travelling has risen by 25% to 80%, showing that Covid-related reluctance to travel is a thing of the past.
Just over 5% of respondents said they plan to take 5 or more holidays this year.
Holidaymakers are less worried about getting through the airports and flying, at just 23.6% this year compared with 40% in 2023 – last year’s elevated figure most likely influenced by 2022’s ‘Summer of Chaos’, which saw queues and delays at security and flight cancellations at unprecedented levels.
Meanwhile, 26% of respondents’ travel plans will take the Climate Crisis into account, with 12.2% saying they will decrease air travel and 11% saying they will take more staycations.
A healthy 90.3% of respondents plan to purchase travel insurance, a proportion which remains virtually unchanged.
“With Travel remaining a top priority for the Irish people despite the cost-of-living increases, it is great to see that over 90% of people surveyed understand the importance of having a Travel Insurance policy in place to cover them while abroad,” said Jason Whelan of Multitrip.com.
At the same time, over 60% of those surveyed say that their 2024 travel plans will be impacted by the Cost-of-Living Crisis:
· 59.1% of those surveyed took three or more holidays in 2023; 43.5% are planning to take 3 or more holidays in 2024 – a 15.6% decrease.
· 44.4% of respondents say they will go on fewer holidays;
· The number of people planning to travel during the peak Summer period (July and August) has fallen by 2% to 42.4%.
· The proportion of people planning to travel in May or June has meanwhile risen by over 6% to 57.5%.
· 16.6% of those surveyed say they will spend less on travel in 2024 compared to 2023.
