Does Our Job Type Influence Our Holiday Destination? We’ve all heard of travel destination choices being affected by our class, income and lifestyle. However, another, but more in-depth element that can affect our choice of holiday destination is in fact the type of job we have and the industry we work in.
Survey Findings
d out by sunshine.co.uk of 1,892 people who had been on holiday over the past year and who were in a full time job, there were certain trends found depending on the sector in which they worked in. These are as follows:
- People working in the human resources sector are more likely to take a holiday to New York
- Those working in the construction sector typically holiday in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt.
- Sales and Marketing professionals tend to head for Spain’s Balearic Islands.
- People working in finance prefer to take a holiday to the beautiful Tuscany in Italy.
- Accountants preferred France’s Cote d’Azur
- Health workers mainly went for a holiday in Madeira,
- Armed forces personnel typically like to visit Phuket in Thailand for their holiday
- Education professionals were most likely to visit the Costa Blanca in Spain.
- Professionals working in IT preferred Spain’s Costa Brava as their holiday destination choice’
- People working in the media sector liked to visit the Greek Islands for their holiday.
There are some surprising and not so surprising preferences when it comes to holiday destinations and job types.
Most Popular Tourist Destinations
Looking at the actual figures for the most popular tourist destinations also illustrates a picture in itself. Below are the figures for tourist arrivals in each country:
- France – has 79.5 million visitors, and is, therefore, the top when it comes to tourist destination popularity
- United States – the US is second most popular for tourist destinations, with 62.3 million visiting each year.
- China – third inline is the up and coming tourist destination, China. There are 57.6 million tourists visiting China each year, even though it remains a communist state.
- Spain – This is one of the Brits favourite holiday destinations, and currently has 56.7 million visitors each year. Not bad when you think of how bad the economy is at the moment in Spain.
- Italy – Italy is the country known for its food, wine and romantic scenery. There are 46.1 million visitors that travel to Italy each year, despite holidays to Italy being amongst the most expensive in Europe (cost of food, accommodation etc). Attractions like Lake Como, Pompeii and Coliseums etc make it well worth the visit.
- Turkey – another very popular tourist destination amongst the Brits. Turkey is known for its cheap and cheerful food, beers, architecture and entertainment. There are 31.3 million tourists visiting Turkey each year.
- United Kingdom – in the Summer months the UK can be a very nice place to visit, due to stunning locations (Yorkshire, which has won the top European Destination Award), attractions are plentiful e.g. stately homes, museums, areas of outstanding natural beauty and not to mention the attractions in London. There are 29.4 million people that visit the UK each year. Not bad for a tiny Island.
- Germany – has 28.2 million visitors, and is well known for its food markets and festivals. Making this a great destination for certain times of the year.
- Malaysia – with 26.7 million visitors each year, Malaysia is a destination that is popular amongst people all over the world and has a lot to offer in terms of scenery, climate, and culture.
- Mexico – 23.2 Million tourists visit Mexico each year and have excellent beaches and food to offer at very low prices.
Again, there are a few surprises in terms of destination popularity amongst tourists; Mexico (thought to be higher than for example Turkey), China due to the communist state, and France, which is rightfully up there, but completely blows all other destinations away in terms of visitor numbers.
Other Popular Holiday Destinations
There is other popular holiday destinations that are different from your average holiday and perhaps aren’t as popular due to the niche in terms of what they offer tourists. For example, countries in Scandinavia are very popular as a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. Scandinavian countries like Norway have attractions such as the Northern Lights, which by the way are nothing short of spectacular, skiing, adventure, culture, and so on.
The list of things to do and what they all have to offer is endless, but due to the colder climate of the most popular destinations mentioned above, these types of holidays only appeal to certain holidaymakers. This by no means makes Scandinavian countries a lesser area to visit. Also, activities can be relatively expensive, hence the once in a life time holiday.
Gina is the author of this article and has worked for several years in the travel and tourism industry and also has vast experience in travelling to different countries across many continents. Please share your thought on “Does Our Job Type Influence Our Holiday Destination?” in the comment section below.
