UK holidays for less

Many UK holidays are available for less, as traditional British holiday resorts are considered rather boring with travellers seeking upmarket destinations, luxurious hotels and isolated country retreats.

Which is good news if you are looking for seaside holiday break in the UK, as overcapacity is bringing the price down.

The poll of 3,500 UK holidaymakers compared the most popular UK holiday locations and activities to give an overview of the British holiday in 2008.

The findings show that, while holidaying within the UK is still popular, British holiday breaks are much more likely to involve visits to theme parks, relaxing spas and extreme sports centres.

Punch and Judy shows are out of favour, just 2% of the younger respondents claiming they have been a feature of their recent holidays.

Donkey rides, at Blackpool, Weymouth and Skegness, also look set to die out with just 4% saying they would be likely to take one, with just over (20%) rating them as animal cruelty.

And, swimming in the sea off the coast of Britain is also likely to consigned to the past – popular with just 6% of under 30s.

Other favourite’s fast becoming history include; playing bingo (3%), sending novelty postcards (2%) and taking a stroll along the pier (1%).

Cream teas are outdated, with a third of under 30’s (33%) rating the once popular afternoon treat as outdated and 18% abstaining because they consider them rather fattening.

However, some seaside favourites remain popular with holidaymakers – including water sports (18%), visiting fairground rides (17%) and caravan holidays (16%).

One in ten also admitted to still loving that favorite staple fish and chips,

Just under half of holidaymakers (45%) are likely to take at least one foreign holiday abroad a year, while a quarter of Brits are likely to take at least two short breaks (2-5 days) within the UK in the same time period.

And while former seaside favourites such as Bognor Regis, Torbay and Llandudno look to be losing their appeal, resorts in the Lake District, North Devon and Cornwall seem to be popular with many travellers whatever their age.

A quarter of the nation’s under 30’s prefer to take city breaks, with Edinburgh, Brighton and Bournemouth registering most votes.

Meanwhile more than a third of over 60 year old (35%) prefer more traditional resorts, identifying Blackpool, Torquay and St Ives as their favourite British resorts.