The French, British and South Koreans look to save

In spite of lingering economic fears, more than 60 per cent of consumers around the world are planning to spend as much or more on their vacations this year as they did on their last getaways, according to new research with Survey Sampling International’s global online panels.

The Chinese and Singaporeans are most likely to be increasing their vacation budgets, with almost half of respondents in those countries anticipating spending more on their upcoming vacations.

In addition, about a third of New Zealanders and Australians are investing more this year in their vacation plans. In contrast, just 10 per cent of American and Japanese consumers, 11 per cent of French consumers and 12 per cent of German consumers plan to boost their vacation spend.

Although there appears to be widespread optimism around vacation planning, there are many consumers who are actively cutting their vacation budgets. Almost a third of French respondents and a quarter of UK and South Korean participants say that they will spend less on their next vacations than their last. Japan (23 per cent), the US (22 per cent) and Germany (20 per cent) also have many consumers looking to spend less on their upcoming trips than in the past.