Shoopit unveils a new travel survey highlighting consumer attitudes to travel during the UK’s cost of living crisis

Innovative flight search engine and browser extension, shoopit, has released its 2022 Consumer Travel Survey. The project was undertaken to uncover the habits of UK travellers in the face of difficult economic challenges, showing that while those most affected by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis may delay their flight bookings, they still say that they’re likely to travel at least once in the next 12 months.

The survey was conducted among 2003 UK consumers who have bought a plane ticket in the last five years to determine how their travel habits have changed and where their priorities lie. The interviews were conducted by Sapio Research on behalf of shoopit in November 2022.

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The key results of the survey are detailed below:

• Pre-COVID-19 pandemic (pre-2019) travelling habits: In the past five years, respondents who had travelled by plane for either ‘holiday’ or ‘business’ took two trips per year. Respondents spent an average of nine nights abroad on a ‘holiday trip’, and two nights abroad on a ‘business trip’.
• Post-COVID-19 pandemic travelling habits: Since the pandemic, respondents are 57% less likely to take as frequent trips abroad as they were prior to Covid-19. The survey also shows that respondents are more likely to travel shorter distances and have 51% less budget for travel expenses.
• Future travelling: Over the next 12 months respondents intend to make two ‘holiday trips’ and one ‘business trip’, with individuals expecting to spend on average nine nights abroad for a ‘holiday trip’ and four nights abroad for a ‘business trip’. However, on average those who are ‘extremely affected’ by the cost of living crisis only intend to travel once in 2023.
• Impact of the cost-of-living crisis on travelling: On average, respondents would consider themselves less likely to book a flight when the price increases by 17%, while for those ‘very affected’ by the cost-of-living crisis, this threshold decreases to 15%. Furthermore, 55% are less likely to travel abroad in the next 12 months and 32% have delayed booking a trip due to the cost-of-living crisis. This increases to 42% for those ‘extremely affected’ by the cost-of-living crisis.
• Impact on the environment: Travellers are evermore becoming conscious of their carbon footprint with 40% of respondents most likely to book direct flights. In addition, 78% of people will not be taking business trips as opposed to only 32% prior to covid, highlighting the shift businesses have taken towards non-essential travel.

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