As the recession continues to put a squeeze on family finances, parents are increasingly looking for ways to make savings on the cost of their annual holidays.
The end of the school holidays is now on the horizon, and many families are rushing to squeeze in a last-minute break before the children go back to the classroom. But it seems that many parents are prepared to wait a little longer in order to save money.
Research by Mintel has revealed that almost half of parents (49 per cent) would contemplate taking their children on a break during term time, to avoid inevitable holiday and flight price hikes during school holidays.
The rising cost of living has meant that six out of ten families have had to forgo some of their holidays in an effort to balance the books.
The figures come as Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, revealed plans to remove the right of head teachers to “authorise absence” from the classroom, with families facing fines if their children fail to attend school.
Approximately six out of ten adults who have children said that holidays abroad were too costly outside of term time, while four in ten said that domestic breaks were out of the reach of their budgets during the school holidays.
“The balance of opinion clearly indicates that the majority of parents are prepared to take children out of school. This suggests opportunities for companies to directly market non-peak family holidays, pushing the fact that going in term time will be cheaper,” said Tom Rees, a senior travel and tourism analyst at Mintel.
“Any company doing so risks the wrath of the government, which is clearly determined to reduce instances of children being taken out of school for holidays,” he added.
Mintel argues that the fragile state of the economy has acted to “significantly” reduce the number of families travelling overseas, saying that the number of those taking package holidays abroad has fallen by a quarter since 2007.
