- A third of Brits won’t be celebrating this year
- Almost one in five Brits are feeling less festive this year than previous years
- Three quarters are considering escaping their town this Christmas
- Bangkok, Thailand is the top searched destination for a festive getaway
Tis the season to not be jolly as research released today reveals that a third of the nation (33%*) admits to loathing the festive season and won’t be celebrating this year. And of those that usually celebrate Christmas, 19% are feeling less festive this year than previous years according to the research by KAYAK, the world’s leading travel search engine.
When it comes to not liking Christmas, 43% of anti-Christmas Brits say it’s a commercially driven holiday, and 35% say it’s all fake altruism and cheerfulness. More than a third (34%) said they do not like the peer pressure to be cheerful and 27% say they hate crowds everywhere.
The survey also identified which areas in the country were the most and least festive, based on respondent’s perceptions of the regions where they live. The South East was voted the least merry region closely followed by the North West according to locals. Wales seems to be the most in the holiday spirit with just 2% Welsh people saying their region isn’t that festive.
When it comes to unfestive towns, the majority of people surveyed who say their city is not festive at all reside in Leicester. Belfast on the other hand came out as the most holly-jolly town, with only 3% of people in the city saying it’s not festive.
For those not feeling the Christmas spirit, they may want to consider escaping to these least festive towns, according to the survey findings:
- Leicester
- Manchester
- Kingston Upon Hull
- Bradford
- Southampton
- London
- Sheffield
- Newcastle
- Edinburgh
- Birmingham
Whether a local town is festive or not, almost three quarters of Brits (74%) would consider escaping their hometown over the holiday season. According to KAYAK search data**, the top destinations Brits are looking to travel to this Christmas are Bangkok, Thailand; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Manila, Philippines; Mumbai, India and New York, United States.
For those that are looking to get away from all the Christmas cheer, the KAYAK Best Time To Travel Christmas and New Year feature has analysed thousands of routes globally. It uses KAYAK’s historical data specifically around the festive season, to recommend the best time to book your flight to get affordable prices.
Annie Wilson, KAYAK Chief Commercial Officer commented: “Christmas might not be for everyone, so if you want a winter escape during the festive season, there are plenty of destinations whatever your Christmas cheer levels are. Our Best Time To Travel Christmas and New Year tool can help you plan your getaway.”
Top tips
For the anti-Christmas Brits that plan to stay in the UK, you may want to join almost a quarter of the festive loathers (24%) and just hibernate for a week. Here are the Christmas haters top eight things to avoid Christmas:
- Avoid Christmas entertainment such as parties, music or films (27%)
- Stay home and hibernate for the week (24%)
- Not buying any gifts for friends or family (16%)
- Stay away from people that want to “cheer you up” (13%)
- Treat yourself to your favourite non-Christmassy food (13%)
- Download a watchlist of movies and TV series that are anything by Christmassy (10%)
- Visit a destination that doesn’t celebrate Christmas (9%)
- Complain when people put up Christmas decorations (9%)
For the Christmas lovers, the top thing that makes them get in the festive spirit is decorating the house and garden (75%). Here are the festive-lovers top eight things to get you in the Christmas mood:
- Decorating the house/garden 75%
- Watch Christmas movies 72%
- Christmas gift shopping 62%
- Listening to Christmas music 60%
- No Christmas without the tree 53%
- Visiting Christmas markets 53%
- Having an advent calendar (41%)
- Hosting or going to Christmas parties (28%)
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Note to editors:
KAYAK offers a wide range of tools including a variety of search filters to find the flights, cars and hotels to help travellers book their next getaway including:
- Explore: Debating where to travel? Use KAYAK’s Explore tool to see all the amazing places you can visit within a given price range.
- Best Time to Travel: KAYAK’s new tool helps you find the best time to travel to your chosen destination looking at price, weather, busy periods using KAYAK data and Chat GPT.
- Price Alerts: Never miss a deal by signing up for KAYAK’s customised price alerts so you know when prices change for the flight, hotel or car you want.
- Vacay Valuator: Find the destinations you could fly to based on the savings you could make by cutting back on some everyday luxuries
Methodology:
*An online survey was conducted by PureSpectrum, amongst 1,200 respondents in the UK who recognise Christmas as a festive day. The sample was weighted proportionately by region for direct comparison. The research fieldwork took place between November 15th – 23rd, 2023.
**Based on flight searches made on Kayak.co.uk and associated sites in the period between 01/01/2023 – 09/11/2023 compared to 01/01/2022 – 09/11/2022, for travel dates 22/12/2023 – 07/01/2024 compared to 21/12/2022 – 07/01/2023. Prices are on average for return flights on economy departing from any UK airport. Prices may vary and savings cannot be guaranteed. Percentages for changes in searches are approximate.
About KAYAK
KAYAK, part of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG), is the world’s leading travel search engine. With billions of queries across our platforms, we help people find their perfect flight, stay, rental car and vacation package. We also support business travellers with our corporate travel solution.
