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Holiday Dreams or Dream Holidays?

Europeans are heading into a grim holiday season, as governments cut spending and recession fears mount for 2012

Austerity is the byword in some of the countries hardest hit by Europe's debt crisis, but others are sending out the old year with a final, celebratory bash.

Some can still afford a holiday get-away, while others can only dream of one - The Beginner asked both types of readers how they would like to spend their holidays.

The majority of readers were divided between ‘relaxing in a tourist resort’ and ‘visiting family’, which might not be a surprise in the current climate. With 43% voting for each of these, the preferences seem to be financially driven.

For those who can either afford, or at least dream of their next trip, the desire to ‘relax in a tourist resort’ away from the bleak reality seems to be strong. For the other 43% the option to ‘visit family’ is perhaps a more realistic way to recharge batteries.

‘Backpacking in exotic countries’ still scored 14%, while the options of ‘staying at home’ or ‘going on cultural excursions’ did not receive any votes.

According to Eurostat, the European tourist accommodation sector started to recover in the year 2010, with nights spent at hotels and similar establishments increasing by 2.8 % compared with 2009, following two years of negative growth.

Similarly, Europ Assistance reported that holiday plans for summer 2011 were back to the level of 2007 after two years of crisis. Sixty-six percent of Europeans claim that they planned to go on holiday in 2011, as compared to 64% in 2010 and in 2009. This slight increase caught up with the pre-crisis level, where 67% of Europeans claimed to be planning to go on holiday.

2012 will show if holiday dreams, whatever they may be, eventuate into the holidays of dreams.

by Petra Schweidler