Costs Trumps Quality When Choosing Holiday Destinations – AA

• Overall holiday costs and the quality of their chosen hotel are the most important factors for Irish holiday-goers when deciding where to spend their main holiday.
• An AA Travel Insurance survey found that 58.97% of Irish people view the financial aspect of the holiday as a very important factor in deciding where to travel, while 51.18% view hotel quality as key to their decision.
• AA advises holiday-goers to look for potential savings, but not to skip on essentials such as travel insurance when travelling abroad.

The impact on our bank account is key to deciding where Irish people are spending their main holiday this year, according to recent AA research.

In response to an AA Travel Insurance survey of over 4,000 Irish holiday-goers, 59.01% of respondents identified the overall cost of the holiday as a ‘Very Important’ factor in deciding where to travel this summer. Meanwhile, a further quarter of those surveyed (27.33%) stated that overall costs of the holiday were ‘somewhat important’ in informing their decision, while just 3.31% admitted that costs had no impact on their decision.

Meanwhile, 51.20% of those surveyed identified the quality of hotels in their chosen destination as a very important factor in making their decision.

“In many ways it’s unsurprising that the dent the holiday will leave in our bank balance is the most important factor for Irish holiday-goers, given that for many of us it’s one of the larger expenses we face in any given year. As with anything it’s important that you shop around to help reduce costs but if you are looking for additional ways to save, you can also look at options such as travelling at off-peak times, outside of the traditional school holidays or look at less popular destinations,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs stated. “However, when it comes to looking at where you can cut costs we would urge people to be careful about travelling abroad without having travel insurance in place.”

“The cost of travel insurance for the majority of people is going to be very low, especially when you consider the bills you could face if you are forced to cancel the holiday, lose your baggage, or find yourself spending time in hospital while abroad. Travel insurance covers you in all these cases so it definitely offers affordable protection for you and your wallet when you’re travelling.”

The AA Travel Insurance survey also found that cultural opportunities were more important to Irish holiday-goers than the opportunity to laze on a beach while abroad.

Almost a third of respondents (32.81%) stated that the tourist sites at their chosen location was a very important factor in their summer holiday decision, compared to just 29.23% who ranked access to a beach as a very important factor.

“After a cold and unexpectedly long period of winterish weather many of us are probably already thinking of our time in the sun over the coming months. However, perhaps surprisingly, as a nation we’re slightly skewed towards being a group of culture vultures than a nation of beach bums,” Faughnan added. “In reality, most travelling groups probably have a mixture of people who want to laze on the beach and people who want to get a flavouring of local life, but for all of us it’s clear that cost is king in picking our summer destination.”