Brits prefer to holiday with friends, says Butlins

A Butlins survey of almost 2,000 Brits has found that 66% of adults prefer taking holidays with their friends, often without their partners, children or other family members.

The survey, conducted in conjunction with VisitBritain, discovered that 27% of adults go on breaks with their mates, whilst 44% of 16-24-year-olds take regular short breaks with just their friends.

Nearly half of the adults surveyed prefer to take a break in the British countryside, whilst only 30% choose to visit a European city.<

When asked why they take short breaks with their mates, 22% said they had taken a short break in the past year to reunite with old friends, while 10% admitted they take breaks with friends "to get away from their partner and/or family".

A quarter like to go on breaks with their mates to let their hair down, while 12% of under 24s take short breaks to attend music festivals with their friends.

Allan Lambert, head of agency sales at Butlin's parent Bourne Leisure, said: "Our survey results show that British adults are looking for short fun breaks with their friends without having to worry about finding activities for their children or partner.

"Butlins' party and themed weekends have been developed to cater for this market and fulfil our adult customer demands, alongside our ever-popular family breaks.

"The success of the festivals that have been hosted at Butlins this year has also been extremely encouraging and we are planning to make Butlins the ultimate party venue in 2008, by hosting a varied range of multi-day music festivals and other big events."

The online research was carried out by Tickbox.net amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,847 UK adults aged 16 plus.

The survey defined a short break as a leisure trip of one to three nights. By Bev Fearis Travel Mole website.

Published: 30.11.2007