24 May 2018
Tags: World Cup, Football, Travel republic, Holiday
• 45% of Brits plan their holidays around the World Cup
• 29% of British holidaymakers delay booking until after the World Cup
• Half of Brits pull a sickie to watch the matches at home
With less than a month to go to the World Cup, new research has revealed the extreme lengths Brits go to to watch the World Cup both at home and away, with half of Brits watching the matches when 'off sick' from work and one in five paying for their family to be on an excursion while the match is on.
When it comes to holidays, the research conducted by Travel Republic, found 45% of Brits planned their travel around the World Cup, with almost a third preferring to wait until the World Cup has finished to book last minute and 21% admit to booking once England have dropped out in the past.
And where Brit's go is just as important, as just under a third (31%) of Brits cite the importance of the hotel having screens to show the football, and good Wi-Fi around the pool to be able to watch the matches (29%). Destination is also key as a quarter of Brits admit to travelling to a different country to be able to watch the matches at a sociable hour.
And the World Cup doesn't just affect football fans. A third of non-football fans admit to making room in their suitcase for football paraphernalia on behalf of their football enthusiast partner and half are made to get to the pub early to get the best seat to watch the game.
Wesley Marley, Head of Sales at Travel Republic and self-confessed football fan said, “For many of our customers, the World Cup is an important event that cannot be missed. I can easily relate to this, as I chose the most expensive flight of the day to ensure I arrived in time to watch a match, when going on holiday.
Luckily many popular holiday destinations take the World Cup just as seriously as in the UK making it easy to enjoy the World Cup and also provide entertainment for the non-football fans in the family.”
Regionally, adults in Wales are most likely to pull a sickie for the World Cup (59%), while those in Yorkshire are most likely to use the majority of their annual leave during the World Cup (53%). People in the North East travel to a different country to watch the matches the most (32%) and those from the Midlands prefer to send their family on an excursion during the matches (28%).
In celebration of the UK's love for football here and on holiday, Travel Republic has created helpful destination guides which include the best locations to enjoy the football aboard, and where to soak up the sights for the 90 minutes the match is on.
The guides can be viewed here: https://www.travelrepublic.co.uk/blog/holiday-football-guide
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Press Contacts:
Vanessa Lee
0208 974 7201
PR and Social Media Manager Travel Republic
About Travel Republic:
With more than two million holidaymakers booking annually through their websites in the UK and Ireland, Travel Republic is one of the largest and most well-established online travel agents in Europe. With access to over 300,000 hotels, 200 airlines and over 1,000 destinations, Travel Republic offers a breadth of choice for holiday makers. Travel Republic also features over 1 million genuine customer hotel reviews and have been successfully helping people book their hotels, flights and other travel arrangements for over 13 years.
