This time last week we were…

Come on, you know you have said it.

This time next week we will be by the pool

This time next week we will be having our first hot chocolate (one for the skiers)

This time next week we’ll be having our first G&T

And it’s not only in anticipation we all do the same in reverse:

This time last week we were… add in whatever relevant bits of your holiday were most worth reminiscing about.

This is such a lovely thing to do but it also shows why our annual holiday is so important to the Brits. According to research recently undertaken by YouGov, British workers take more of their holiday days than those in any of the 22 countries surveyed worldwide. We spend a long, long time looking forward to the holiday and interestingly we also spend a long time looking back. All of which is made much longer (and more painful for our friends and family) by the constant reminiscing in public on social media. But that’s a whole different rant.

In a recent survey we did for our client Leeds Bradford Airport when the cost-of-living crisis starts to bite, the last thing we will save money or cut out is the annual trip away. While 40% of consumers plan to save on dining out, only 10% are willing to reduce long holidays, proving travel remains a top priority for 2024 (RSM Consumer Outlook 2024). For most of us it’s to the sun to escape the dreary British summer but it could easily be skiing, trip to the caravan or a week down in Cornwall or Devon.

It’s when our time is organised around meals/drinks/activities or just relaxing on a sunbed. Not work, trains, buses, meetings, assignments or deadlines. But I think sometimes those of us that work in the industry can forget how important it is to people and what stress it can cause. Not the stress of work but the stress of finding, booking, paying and travelling – especially for people who maybe only do this once a year. A survey by First Choice (2023) found that Brits spend an average of 53 hours per year planning holidays. This is the point here.

I don’t know if you have ever noticed but people have really big rows on holiday. In my family the biggest one is still “The Majorca Lemonade Row”. My mum and dad had taken me, my mate Matt, my sister and her mate Joanne. Sounds fancy but we had borrowed a friend’s apartment that could fit us all in and so it made sense. So, my dad asked me and matt to go and buy some lemonade (assume Sprite or 7Up as we were in Majorca). We complained. And all hell broke loose.

Looking back if I had taken my son and his mate away for a week in the sun and the pair of ingrates refused to nip to the shop so I could have my first whisky and lemonade I would hit the roof as well. But the level of exasperation was off the scale. To be fair not for my old man. Purely down to the stress levels. This is backed up by the First Choice research which found that two in five Brits (41%) consider holiday planning to be one of ‘life’s most stressful decisions’.