Activity Holidays Market Assessment 2006
Key Note Publications Ltd, February 2006
This Market Assessment report covers the market for activity holidays, which are defined to include a wide variety of events that involve some form of physical exertion, ranging from rambling and fishing to white-water rafting and mountain climbing. The most popular activities fall somewhere between these two extremes, and include cycling, trekking, golfing and sailing. The term `activity holiday' is not applied to holidays such as ocean cruises, cultural tours or safaris which, although they involve visits to exotic or remote locations or cater for special interest groups, do not involve physical effort.
To qualify as an activity holiday in this report, the events engaged in should constitute the main reason for taking the holiday rather than being incidental. For example, taking a walk along the seafront as part of a beach holiday does not qualify the trip as a walking holiday, and hiring a bike to travel to the beach does not constitute a cycling holiday. Activity holidays are considered as part of the wider UK holiday market for travel both within the UK — domestic holidays — and holidays taken outside the UK — abroad holidays.
The firms supplying this market range from small specialist tour operators serving niche markets to subsidiaries of large integrated travel companies, such as First Choice. In many cases, such subsidiaries began as independent specialist operators, but were subsequently taken over by one of the larger players.
Over the past 5 years (since 2001), the UK domestic holiday market, as measured by both the number of trips taken and expenditure on such trips, has been in decline. In contrast, the abroad holiday travel market has been relatively buoyant, despite a number of extraneous events. These include the events of 11th September 2001, the foot-and-mouth epidemic, the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) scare and the terrorist attacks in London in July 2005.
In both the domestic and abroad markets, activity holidays have fared better than average over the past 5 years in terms of both value and volume: activity holidays in the domestic market remained static rather than experienceing a decline, whereas such holidays in the abroad market grew at a faster rate than the market as a whole.
Although the number of domestic activity holidays taken currently exceeds the number of abroad activity holidays, the much higher level of expenditure on abroad holidays means that the positions in terms of total holiday spending are reversed.
The use of the various distribution channels varies greatly between the domestic and abroad sectors of the activity holiday market, with retail travel agents used to a far greater extent by purchasers of abroad holidays than those who buy domestic holidays. In general, this situation reflects the differences that are seen across the whole of the UK travel market, although one significant difference arises in the schools activity holiday market. In this instance, the school is frequently the intermediary between the traveller (the school child) and the activity holiday provider.
In general, advertising expenditure on domestic activity holidays is much lower than that on overseas holidays, which mirrors the situation in the holiday market as a whole. This is mainly because in the domestic market, the majority of holidays are arranged independently without the need for the participation of a travel agent.
As with the wider UK travel market, the Internet has led to a significant change in the way in which customers find out about, and purchase, an activity holiday. This use of the Internet is threatening the role of both retail travel agents and tour operators. Tour operators in particular have fought back, using the Internet as a marketing tool in competition with aggressive transport principals, notably low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair, which currently make a very high proportion of their sales via the Internet.
Specialist tour operators that serve the abroad activity holiday market are somewhat less vulnerable than those that serve, for example, the specialist city breaks sector. This is because it is more difficult for travellers to adopt a DIY approach to the creation of an activity holiday package, where the relevant leisure interest requires a much greater degree of organisation. However, retail travel agents continue to have a much harder time of it, even in this sector.
A key section of this report comprises an analysis of the findings of a survey conducted by NEMS Market Research, which examined the activity-holiday taking patterns of 1,013 adults in Great Britain over the past 5 years. Over this period, just over a third (36%) of respondents had taken one or more such holidays, either within the UK or abroad, with domestic holidays being the most popular. The survey also enquired about respondents' intentions, asking whether those who had not so far taken such a holiday would consider doing so in the future. The result was that almost as many respondents indicated that they would consider such a holiday in the future as had done so in the past, and similar results were obtained for both the domestic and abroad activity holiday sectors.
Over the next 5 years (2006 to 2010), it is forecast that there will be a continuation of many of the trends that are identified in this report. In particular, the UK's economic background is likely to support the continued growth in the abroad activity holiday sector, although the number of domestic holiday trips is expected to remain virtually static to 2010.
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
OVERVIEW
DEFINITIONS
Tourism
Forms of Tourism
Classifications of Tourism Demand
Basic Tourism Units — Categories Of Traveller
Activity Holidays
SUPPLY SECTORS
55.1 Hotels
55.2 Camping Sites and Other Provision of Short-Stay Accommodation
60.1 Transport via Railways
60.2 Other Land Transport
61.1 Sea and Coastal Water Transport
61.2 Inland Water Transport
62.1 Scheduled Air Transport
62.2 Non-Scheduled Air Transport
63.2 Other Supporting Transport Activities
63.3 Activities of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators, and Tourist Assistance Activities Not Elsewhere Classified
RESEARCH
Other Relevant Titles
2. Strategic Overview
MARKET DYNAMICS AND SEGMENTATION
The UK Holiday Market
Table 1: The Total UK Holiday Market by Volume (million trips and %), 2001-2005
Figure 1: The Total UK Holiday Market by Volume (million trips), 2001-2005
Table 2: The Total UK Holiday Market by Value (£bn and %), 2001-2005
Figure 2: The Total UK Holiday Market by Value (£bn), 2001-2005
The UK Activity Holiday Market
By Volume
Table 3: The Total UK Activity Holiday Market by Sector by Volume (million trips and %), 2001-2005
Figure 3: The Total UK Activity Holiday Market by Sector by Volume (million trips), 2001-2005
By Value
Table 4: The Total UK Activity Holiday Market by Sector by Value (£bn and %), 2001-2005
Figure 4: The Total UK Activity Holiday Market by Sector by Value (£bn), 2001-2005
DISTRIBUTION
Domestic Activity Holidays
Table 5: Domestic Holiday Booking Methods (%), 2004
Abroad Activity Holidays
Sources of Information
Table 6: Sources of Information Used for Last Holiday Taken in the Last 12 Months (% of respondents), 2004
Booking Methods
Table 7: How Last Holiday Booking was Made and Method Used in the Last 12 Months (% of respondents), 2004
COMPETITIVE STRUCTURE
ADVERTISING
Domestic Activity Holidays
Overseas Activity Holidays
Table 8: Main Media Advertising Expenditure by UK Overseas Activity Holiday Companies (£000), Years Ending June 2001-2005
THE CONSUMER
All Activity Holiday Taking
Table 9: All Activity Holidays Taken During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
Domestic Activity Holiday Takers
Abroad Activity Holiday Takers
MARKET FORECASTS
Domestic Activity Holidays
Table 10: The Forecast Total UK Domestic Activity Holiday Market by Volume and Value (million trips, £bn and %), 2006-2010
Abroad Activity Holidays
Table 11: The Forecast Total UK Abroad Activity Holiday Market by Volume and Value (million trips, £bn and %), 2006-2010
3. Domestic Activity Holidays
BACKGROUND
domestic activity holidays
Market Size
By Volume
Table 12: The Total UK Domestic Activity Holiday Market by Volume (million trips and %), 2001-2005
By Value
Table 13: The Total UK Domestic Activity Holiday Market by Value (£bn and %), 2001-2005
Types of Domestic Activity Holiday
Table 14: Types of Domestic Activity Holiday Taken by Residents of Great Britain During the Past 5 Years (% and million), 2005
DOMESTIC SKIING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
Distribution
DOMESTIC BOATING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
Distribution
DOMESTIC GOLFING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Characteristics
Advertising
Distribution
DOMESTIC WALKING/TREKKING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
Distribution
DOMESTIC CYCLING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
Distribution
DOMESTIC FISHING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
Distribution
DOMESTIC MULTI-ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
Distribution
OTHER DOMESTIC ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Characteristics
Advertising and Distribution
4. Abroad Activity Holidays
BACKGROUND
ABROAD ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS
Market Size
By Volume
Table 15: The Total UK Abroad Activity Holiday Market by Volume (million trips and %), 2001-2005
By Value
Table 16: The Total UK Abroad Activity Holiday Market by Value (£bn and %), 2001-2005
Types of Abroad Activity Holiday
Table 17: Types of Abroad Activity Holiday Taken by Residents of Great Britain During the Past 5 Years (% and million), 2005
Distribution
ABROAD SKIING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
ABROAD BOATING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
ABROAD GOLFING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
ABROAD WALKING/TREKKING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
ABROAD CYCLING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Characteristics
Advertising
ABROAD FISHING HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
ABROAD MULTI-ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising
OTHER ABROAD ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS
Market Size
Consumer Trends
Advertising and Distribution
5. An International Perspective
MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
Demand for International Tourism
Table 18: Top Ten Countries by Expenditure on International Tourism ($bn), 2003
The Supply of Activity Holidays
COMPETITOR ENVIRONMENT
Germany
France
The Netherlands
Italy
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Activity Holiday Preferences in Main Markets
Table 19: Popularity of Activity Holidays† Among Residents of Selected Countries (%), 2004
New Destinations
6. PEST Analysis
POLITICAL FACTORS
Legislation/Regulation
School Activity Holidays
Proposed Changes to the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 1995
Other Legislation
US Entry Requirements
ECONOMIC FACTORS
Table 20: UK Economic Indicators (£m, £, % and million), 2000-2004
SOCIAL ISSUES
Demographic Trends
Table 21: UK Resident Population Estimates by Sex (000), Mid-Years 2000-2004
Security and International Terrorism
Environmental Impact of Tourism
Other Social Issues
TECHNOLOGICAL ISSUES
The Impact of New Technology on Booking Habits
Technology and the Activity Holiday Product
Other Technological Developments
7. Consumer Dynamics
OVERVIEW
Table 22: Summary of Responses (% of respondents), 2000 and 2005
DOMESTIC VERSUS ABROAD ACTIVITY HOLIDAY TAKING
Table 23: Respondents Who Have Taken an Activity Holiday — in the UK or Abroad — During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
DOMESTIC ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS
Summary of Results
By Sex
By Age
By Social Grade
By Working Status
By Standard Region
By Marital Status
By Presence of Children
By Tenure
Domestic Skiing and Boating Holidays
Table 24: Respondents Who Have Taken a Skiing and/or Boating† Holiday in the UK During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
Domestic Golfing and Walking/Trekking Holidays
Table 25: Respondents Who Have Taken a Golfing and/or Walking/Trekking Holiday in the UK During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
Domestic Cycling and Fishing Holidays
Table 26: Respondents Who Have Taken a Cycling and/or Fishing Holiday in the UK During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
Domestic Multi-Activity and Other Activity Holidays
Table 27: Respondents Who Have Taken a Multi-Activity† and/or Other Activity‡ Holiday in the UK During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
ABROAD ACTIVITY HOLIDAYS
Summary of Results
By Sex
By Age
By Social Grade
By Working Status
By Standard Region
By Marital Status
By Presence of Children
By Tenure
Abroad Skiing and Boating Holidays
Table 28: Respondents Who Have Taken a Skiing and/or Boating† Holiday Abroad During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
Abroad Golfing and Walking/Trekking Holidays
Table 29: Respondents Who Have Taken a Golfing and/or Walking/Trekking Holiday Abroad During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
Abroad Cycling and Fishing Holidays
Table 30: Respondents Who Have Taken a Cycling and/or Fishing Holiday Abroad During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
Abroad Multi-Activity and Other Activity Holidays
Table 31: Respondents Who Have Taken a Multi-Activity† and/or Other Activity‡ Holiday Abroad During the Past 5 Years (% of respondents), 2005
8. Company Profiles
ACORN VENTURE LTD
Corporate Structure and Strategy
Product and Brand Development
Children's Holidays
Holidays for Schools and Youth Groups
Family Holidays
Advertising
Distribution
Profitability
FIRST CHOICE HOLIDAYS PLC
Corporate Structure and Strategy
Product and Brand Development
Sunsail
Exodus
Trek America
Waymark
Flexiski
First Choice Ski
The Adventure Company
Advertising
Distribution
Profitability
Future Company Developments
HOLIDAYBREAK PLC
Corporate Structure and Strategy
Product and Brand Development
Explore Worldwide
RegalDive
Advertising
Distribution
Profitability
Future Company Developments
KINGSWOOD GROUP
Corporate Structure and Strategy
Product and Brand Development
Summer Residential Camps
Specialist Holidays
Multi-Activity Holidays
Camp Beaumont Day Camps
Kingswood Educational Activity Centres
Advertising
Profitability
Future Company Developments
NEILSON ACTIVE HOLIDAYS LTD
Corporate Structure and Strategy
Product and Brand Development
Active Holidays
Beachplus Clubs
Ski and Snowboard
Yachting
UK Sailing
Advertising
Distribution
Profitability
Future Company Developments
RAMBLERS HOLIDAYS LTD
Corporate Structure and Strategy
Product and Brand Development
Advertising
Distribution
Profitability
Future Company Developments
TUI UK LTD
Corporate Structure and Strategy
Product and Brand Development
Crystal Holidays
Crystal Ski
Crystal Finest
Crystal Active
Other Crystal Products
Thomson Ski & Snowboarding
Advertising
Distribution
Profitability
Future Company Developments
9. The Future
BACKGROUND
Future PEST Analysis
Political Issues
Economic Issues
Social Issues
Technological Issues
Future Activity Holiday Taking
Table 32: Respondents Who Would Consider Taking an Activity Holiday in the UK or Abroad in the Future (% of respondents), 2005
FORECASTS
Table 33: The Forecast Total UK Activity Holiday Market by Volume and Value (million trips, £bn and %), 2006-2010
Figure 5: The Forecast Total UK Activity Holiday Market by Volume (million trips), 2006-2010
Figure 6: The Forecast Total UK Activity Holiday Market by Value (£bn), 2006-2010
10. Consumer Confidence
METHODOLOGY
THE WILLINGNESS TO BORROW
Table A: The Average Amount Consumers Are Willing to Borrow in Order to Purchase Expensive Items at Current and Constant November 2004 Prices (£ and £bn), November 2004, February 2005, May 2005, August 2005 and November 2005
The Desire to Borrow Stays Strong
Table B: The Number of Adults Willing to Borrow in Order to Purchase Expensive Items (000 and %), November 2004, February 2005, May 2005, August 2005 and November 2005
THE WILLINGNESS TO SPEND FROM SAVINGS
Table C: The Average Amount Consumers Are Willing to Spend from Savings in Order to Purchase Expensive Items at Current and Constant November 2004 Prices (£ and £bn), November 2004, February 2005, May 2005, August 2005 and November 2005
Consumers Increasingly Cautious
Table D: The Average Amounts Adults are Confident Spending to Purchase Expensive Items (£ and %), November 2004, February 2005, May 2005, August 2005 and November 2005
11. Further Sources
Associations
Publications
General Sources
Government Sources
Other Sources
Bonnier Information Sources
- Acorn Venture Ltd
- First Choice Holidays Plc
- Holidaybreak Plc
- Kingswood Group
- Neilson Active Holidays
- Ramblers Holidays Ltd
- TUI UK Ltd
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