New findings highlight impact of working during family breaks and why travellers should be doing more of what they love
- Over half of holiday-makers occasionally or frequently had to work whilst on holidays
- Over half of this group have cancelled or postponed holidays because of work
- Only 1 in 10 are able to completely ‘turn off’ from work whilst on holidays, can’t remember a holiday uninterrupted by work
Bangkok, Thailand: Many of us are spending our holidays working instead of relaxing with our families, a regional survey by Holiday Inn® has found. Only 1 in 10 are able to completely ‘turn off’ from work during a break and many can’t remember a holiday that hasn’t been interrupted by work.
The Holiday Inn ‘Do More of What You Love’ survey, gathered insights from travellers across the Asia, Middle East and Africa region to explore what guests love to do and see during vacations with friends and family. Key findings indicate that in today’s ‘always on, always connected’ world travellers find it challenging to truly disengage from work.
Over half (56%) of the holiday-makers surveyed say they’ve either occasionally or frequently had to work whilst on holidays, and more than 55% of this group have had to cancel or postpone holidays because of urgent last minute work commitments.
Whether participants are male or female, parents or child-free, the findings show that taking a break is not easy to achieve:
- More men (57%) than women (42%) frequently work on holidays;
- More male than female respondents (56% and 43% respectively) said they have had to cancel or postpone holidays because something urgent at work has come up;
- Of those who have had to cancel or postpone a holiday due to work, child-free respondents were worst affected (63%);
Some travellers are finding ways to make work ‘work’ for us whilst on holidays with almost one in three (30%) saying they only check work emails and messages once their children are in bed, the survey finding women (61%) more disciplined than men (38%) at doing this.
Regional comparisons showed parents from Japan, Southeast Asia and India were best at only checking-in with work once their little ones were snoozing, while those from the Middle East scored amongst the lowest, unsurprising given almost half (47%) responded that they had to cancel or postpone family holidays due to work.
Lee Lin Teo, Head of Brand Management for the Holiday Inn Brand Family across Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) said: “Despite the large numbers of travellers who admit work does often encroach on their holiday time, what we do find encouraging is that other group of travellers who find ways to switch off, relax, rejuvenate and enjoy their break.
“At Holiday Inn, we want to bring back this joy of travel, that wonderful feeling of doing more of what you love, with the ones you love the most – your family.”
Younger travellers around the region were also surveyed with many saying they’re seeing their Mums and Dads working on their precious breaks instead of spending quality time with them. In fact, over 1 in 10 say their parents always work on holidays, which is food for thought given almost a quarter (23%) of all kids surveyed say they feel sad when their parents work on holiday, saying they simply want to spend time or play together with their parents!
“Holiday Inn has always stood for fun, family-friendly holidays that take the stress out of breaks because we know there’s already too much of that in our guests’ every-day lives.
“We were the first hotel brand across the world to champion hassle-free holidays with ‘Kids Stay and Eat Free’, and for those times Mum and Dad really can’t avoid checking into work, our Kids Club and fun-friendly KidSuite® rooms keep younger guests happy and busy until it’s time to hit the beach again as a family,” Lee Lin finished.
Across Thailand, there are 7 Holiday Inn hotels and resorts open. Globally, there are almost 1,200 Holiday Inn hotels and resorts open, with a further 260 due to open in the next three to five years.
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About the survey: The Holiday Inn ‘Do More of What You Love’ survey was conducted between April and July 2016 via SoGoSurvey.com. A total of 521 respondents were surveyed across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and South Africa.
About Holiday Inn®: Started over 60 years ago and with more than 1,200 hotels worldwide today, the Holiday Inn® brand is the most widely recognised lodging brand in the world. During that time, it was the first hotel brand to launch a computerised reservation system in 1965, one of the first international hotel brands to establish a presence in China in 1984 and the first to take an online booking in 1995.
The ‘Kids Eat & Stay Free’ programme available at every Holiday Inn® property, and KidSuites® rooms at every Holiday Inn Resort® hotel, demonstrates the long-standing commitment of the Holiday Inn® brand to serving family travellers, along with a comfortable atmosphere where everyone can sit back and relax.
For four consecutive years, the Holiday Inn® brand has been ranked “Highest in Guest Satisfaction Among Mid-scale Full Service Hotel Chains”, according to the J.D. Power and Associates North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study.
For more information about Holiday Inn® and Holiday Inn Resort® or to make a reservation, visit www.holidayinn.com. Find us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/holidayinn or Facebook www.facebook.com/holidayinnhotels.
About IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group): IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is a global organisation with a broad portfolio of hotel brands, including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN® Hotels, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®.
IHG franchises, leases, manages or owns more than 5,000 hotels and nearly 750,000 guest rooms in almost 100 countries, with more than 1,400 hotels in its development pipeline. IHG also manages IHG® Rewards Club, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty programme, with more than 96 million members worldwide.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC is the Group’s holding company and is incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales. More than 350,000 people work across IHG’s hotels and corporate offices globally.
