45 per cent of fathers would still take their children out of school for a holiday regardless of the new legislation

Research commissioned by Callcredit Information Group has revealed that 45 per cent of fathers would still take their children out of school to get a good deal on a holiday regardless of the introduction of new legislation and the possibility of hefty fines.

The independent research undertaken by YouGov* into consumer behaviour surrounding holidays looked at how much consumers spend, how far in advance they book, how they book and whether given the prospect of a good deal consumers would take their children out of school. The findings have been further enhanced by Callcredit’s new CAMEO UK segmentation tool showing how these views differ across socio-economic groups.      

By using CAMEO UK Callcredit was able to categorise respondents into ten different groups ranging from ‘Business Elite’ to ‘Family Value’.

When asked would you still take your children out of school during term time to get a good deal on a holiday despite the new legislation?

• 59 per cent of the ‘On a Budget’, 50 per cent of Cash Conscious Communities and 42 per cent of the ‘Flourishing Society’ said they would.
• Whereas only 32 per cent of the ‘Prosperous Professionals’ would take their children out of school for a holiday.

When asked how far in advance do you book your holiday?

• Women seem to be the ones who prefer to pre-plan with 35 per cent preferring to book at least 6-12 months in advance compared to their male counterparts where 35 per cent are quite happy to leave it between 2-6 months before they travel.  
• ‘Family Value’ group five times more likely to book early than Business Elite with 21% booking early compared to 4%.
• The most affluent groups tend to book their holidays 2-6 months in advance.

 When asked how much they would be willing to spend?

• 49per cent of the ‘Family Value’ group confirmed that they would be prepared to spend up to £1,200, primarily in the UK, for a family of four.
• Compared to those in the ‘Flourishing Society’ where 21 per cent stated they would be happy to spend double this amount.

When asked how do you generally tend to book your holidays?

• 65 per cent of the ‘Business Elite’ together with 63 per cent of the ‘Content Communities’ and ‘Flourishing Society’ said they would prefer to book independently.
• 60 per cent of the ‘White Collar Neighbourhoods’ also shared this view.
• Compared to 27 per cent of the ‘Family Value’ group who stated that they still preferred to use the services of a travel agent.

Chris McDonald, Managing Director, Marketing Solutions at Callcredit, commented: “Last weekend signalled the start of the main holiday exodus with many schools breaking up and an estimated two million people heading off for an overseas summer break. Clearly developing a deeper understanding of consumers is a must, especially for the travel industry. The research clearly shows that if marketers are in tune with what the consumer wants, the price they are prepared to pay and the channel through which they prefer to purchase, then they can target their products and services much more accurately.”   

“Interestingly the survey also showed a disparity between views when a last minute deal became available with 48 per cent of the ‘Business Elite’ prepared to drop everything and jet off compared to just 38 per cent of the ‘Cash Conscious Communities’, indicating that flexibility when it comes to taking time off work could be an issue – valuable insight for marketers when faced with having to market late availability holidays”.