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Survey finds that South Africans will sacrifice for a holiday

19 Feb 2015

In a recent TravelGround.com Travel Trends Survey, 69% of more than 2000 South African respondents said that price is the most important factor when choosing holiday accommodation.

Survey finds that South Africans will sacrifice for a holiday

When asked what they were willing to give up for a dream holiday, the majority of respondents chose fashion shopping (51%), dining out (37%), and Christmas gifts (29%). An overwhelming number of humorous 'other' responses included: 'sell my husband', 'auction my mother-in-law', and 'delay my marriage'.

South Africa has experienced tough economic conditions over the last year and many people have responded by cutting back on travel in an effort to save money. According to the survey, 57% of respondents have only been on holiday one or two times in the past year, whilst 22% haven't been away at all.

"Despite these figures, TravelGround.com had record accommodation bookings in 2014," said TravelGround.com's Joint-CEO, Marcel van de Ghinste. "Local travel isn't a dying market. People still value getaways and a massive 62% of our survey respondents want to put money aside each month to fund a big holiday."

Frequent travellers

According to the survey, only 3% of participants went on holiday more than five times in the past 12 months. Frequent travellers proved to be less concerned with budget and place the highest importance on the clear availability of a room when using an accommodation booking website.

Frequent travellers indicated that they:

Use cash, credit card, or holiday points to fund their holiday;

Place importance on reviews and photographs when booking accommodation;

Consider Wi-Fi to be important; and

Prefer to fly.

Road travel is the preferred mode of transport for holidays in South Africa, with only 4% of respondents tending to fly. Based on the survey results, solo travellers are three times more likely to fly to their holiday destination than couples or families. Families drive much further than other traveller types and went away significantly less in 2014 than people travelling with a partner.

"Families have expenses that other travellers don't, so their expendable income is minimal. And considering the cost effectiveness of travelling in one car versus individual flight tickets, it's no surprise that families budget for big annual road trips," said Van de Ghinste.

The survey revealed distinct differences between how men and women finance their holidays. While many jokes circulate about women and credit cards, the survey revealed that men are twice as prone to financing holidays with a credit card. But men are also three times more likely to use cash and not need to budget at all. Women proved to be bigger budgeters and more than twice as many women as men plan to split holiday costs with friends or family.

What aren't men and women willing to give up for a dream holiday? While men are less willing to give up dining out or resort to growing their own food, women prefer to cling to their Christmas gifts, cigarettes, and alcohol.

TravelGround.com Travel Trends Survey: www.travelground.com/blog/press