You’re reading this blog on either our website or one of our apps, which means that there’s a good chance that you love travelling and have a list of your top five cities to visit. While you may not have seen all of the world’s wonder yet, chances are that you have a plan to see it all. However, you might be surprised to learn that nearly a quarter of British adults have never been on a plane and a fifth have never even been to a beach. We recently conducted research into how many Brits still have some major ‘first-time travel experiences’ ahead of them, and the results were illuminating. If you’re a well-experienced traveller or someone who is about to take the plunge, read on to decide which “first” you’d most like to tick off on your list.
According to our research, almost a third of British adults have never travelled outside of Europe and a sizeable chunk of us have yet to visit a European capital city. Perhaps most surprisingly, almost one in ten of us have never even departed our fair shores. The main reason given for this is that travelling is too expensive, but many people also find it too complicated.
Indeed, as much as we’d all love to be permanently on holiday, real life does tend to get in the way and our research indicated that more than half of us haven’t been overseas in the past year. In fact, a third of us haven’t made it off the island in the past five years.
Been there, done that – or have you?
There is a seemingly never-ending list of beautiful places to visit in the world, but checking off famous city landmarks is an excellent way to keep tabs of all the places we’ve been. Looking at some of the most famous, over half of us have never visited the Eiffel Tower, three-quarters have never seen Rome’s famous Colosseum, and a whopping eighty percent have never seen New York’s Statue of Liberty.
And these aren’t the only holiday experiences many Brits are missing out on; More than one-third of us have never eaten dinner with a sea view and the sound of the waves lapping at the shore. In fact, a staggering forty-one percent admit they’ve never even tried foreign food.
What’s top of all the must-see lists?
When asked which destination you would most like to visit, New Zealand topped the list. The Land of the Long White Cloud was followed by other far-flung destinations, Canada and Australia. Regarding landmarks that you most dream of exploring, The Grand Canyon, the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids in Egypt are among the favourites. And when it comes to the ultimate life-changing experience, holidays involving wild animals proved most popular. Going on safari just tops swimming with dolphins and turtle or whale watching remains as popular as ever.
Why first-time travellers should keep an eye on us
At KAYAK.co.uk, we want to make it easy for as many people as possible to see the world, and help you find the cheapest offers within your budget. While we understand that leaving the comforts of home is not for everyone, we were surprised to see that nearly a third of adults in the UK haven’t been abroad in the past five years. We think too many Brits are missing out on what the world has to offer.
This is why we are working with UniLad to allow one lucky Brit the opportunity to go abroad for the first time ever! Keep an eye out on both the UniLad and KAYAK Facebook social channels for more information.
Note to editors:
Research conducted by Opinium for KAYAK between 18-21 November 2016 and amongst 2,000 UK adults (online interviews). The samples have been weighted to reflect a nationally representative audience.
Image: @iravgustin/Shutterstock.com
