Most Singaporeans planning summer holiday overseas this year

The Travel for Real study, which surveyed 1,000 Singaporeans between the ages of 18 and 45 years old who travel for leisure at least once every three years, also found that of the 73 per cent planning to travel this summer, half (50 per cent) plan to take one trip, while 30 per cent are planning to take two trips.

Younger travellers typically take a longer time to observe ongoing trends before booking their trips, with just 27 per cent of 18-25 year olds, and 29 per cent of 26-35 year olds having already booked their summer travel plans respectively. By contrast, a third (33 per cent) of travellers aged between 36 and 45 have booked theirs.

Almost half said that they would like to have a trip that lasted at least six days, with travellers aged between 18 and 25 being most keen on trips that last between six and nine days (31 per cent), or between 4 and five days (29 per cent).

Travellers aged between 18 and 25 are also most keen on taking trips that last 6 to 9 days (31 per cent), or a trip of 4 to 5 days (29 per cent). Meanwhile, 37 per cent of travellers aged 26 – 35 are most keen to take a 4 to 5-day trip, while 32 per cent of them are keen on a 6 to 9-day trip.

Money has superseded Covid as the top priority for Singapore’s travellers

In addition, 52 per cent feeling confident to travel. This enthusiasm is being driven by the easing of restrictions and a high level of vaccination against Covid-19, with the study finding that most people feel safe as they are vaccinated (69 per cent) and find testing/entry requirements easier to manage (58 per cent) now that countries have relaxed their entry restrictions.

Covid is no longer the top reason for Singaporeans who are not travelling abroad this summer – instead the most common reason was budget (45 per cent), due to increases in travel cost compared to pre-pandemic times. This was most commonly cited as a reason by the 18-35 age group, with 48 per cent mentioning budget as a key concern – compared with 37 per cent of travellers aged between 36 and 45. However, more than half of respondents also felt that a refundable or flexible booking policy helped to boost their travel confidence.

Lavinia Rajaram, Expedia’s Head of Public Relations for Asia said: “It is encouraging to see Singaporeans finding confidence and feeling excitement about travel again. With many travel restrictions easing over the past months, Singaporeans have been inspired to take to the skies once again and fulfil that pent up travel desire.”

Expedia previously outlined five travel industry trends in its Traveller Value Index: 2022 Outlook report, published in January.