Research to mark Virgin Holidays 30 th anniversary reveals the changing face of the British holiday over the past thirty years - and how our desired destinations for tourism have dramatically changed.
In 1985, the top three destinations were the Caribbean, the USA and Europe. Today, the increased interest of exotic destinations has seen Middle East top the bill, followed by the Caribbean and Asia.
Short-haul travel to the traditional European hotspots is now seen as the least exciting places to travel, with a mere 3% of respondents believing it to be an exciting or desirable destination.
Most desirable holiday destinations in 20151. Middle East
2. Caribbean
3. Asia
4. USA
5. South America
Most desirable holiday destinations in 1985:1. Caribbean
2. USA
3. Europe
4. USA
5. South America
Today's traveler identifies the sheer breadth of destinations now available as the best factor about international holidays today (59%). In fact, we are 48% more likely to go on holiday now, than we were 30 years ago - all suggesting that a new breed of British tourist has been born.
Conversely when investigating the biggest bug bears of holiday makers in 1985 most cited the hotel entertainment (21%) as their biggest holiday spoiler, with a further 20% resenting the limited offer of 80's food.
And of course, one of the biggest changes in thirty years is technology - logging in on social media an average of four times a day! While half of us (55%) do it to simply let friends and family know what we're up to, one in ten of us do so because the thought of not being connected "stresses" us out.
Mark Anderson, managing director of Virgin Holidays, commented: "It's no secret that the British love holidays in all their forms. Where we've made our mark in the last 30 years is in encouraging them to step out and be more adventurous - to swap Cornwall for the Caribbean."
Virgin Holidays started injecting some flair to the holiday market in October 1985, offering package holidays in Miami for £299pp and quickly grew to become the UK's largest transatlantic travel company. The company has long been a pioneer - spawning multiple industry-firsts that we now take for granted including wedding holiday packages, loyalty clubs for the travel market, and adventure holiday products.
