5 June 2012: research commissioned by the National Consumer Agency finds that 6 in 10 Irish adults plan to travel abroad this year

1. National Consumer Agency
Market Research Findings:
Travelling Abroad
June 2012
Research Conducted by

2. Table of Contents
2
Research Methodology and Sample Profile
Key FindingsMaking Complaints
Main Findings: Travelling Abroad
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3. 3
Research Methodology
Making Complaints
and Sample Profile
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4. Profile of Sample and Research Methodology
(Base: All adults aged 16+ – 1,001)
4
Gender Age Social Class Region
% % % %
17
Dublin
16-24
ABC1/ 28
Male F50+
49 25-34 48
22
Making Complaints Leinster
Rest of
26
35-44 19
45-54 16
Munster 28
Female 51 C2DE/ 52
F50-
55+ 26 Conn/
Ulster 18
• A nationally representative sample of 1,001 adults aged 16+ was achieved via means of an online
omnibus.
• Fieldwork was conducted between 14th – 22nd May 2012.
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5. 5
Key Findings
Making Complaints
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6. Key Findings - I
6
• 6 in 10 (58%) Irish adults plan to travel abroad this year with the majority
travelling to European countries.
• 20% plan to use travel agents to book their holidays.
•
Making Complaints
2 in 3 (64%) assert they will take out travel insurance for their holiday this
year; substantial differences across the age groups are observed; just 44%
of the 16-24 age group plan to take out travel insurance, this increases to
78% for those over 55.
• Just over 2 in 3 (68%) who take out travel insurance compare different
product providers.
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7. Key Findings - II
7
• Incidence of problems experienced when abroad on holidays
• 17% of Irish adults have experienced problems with their flights
• 14% have had difficulty in relation to their bank card
• 12% experienced accommodation related problems.
• Consumers were most likely to complain with regard to accommodation
Making Complaints
(71%) and making claims on travel insurance (69%) when they have
experienced problems.
• 54% check phone roaming costs before travelling abroad and 42% check
banking charges.
• Over 1 in 4 (27%) found the cost of phone roaming costs to be higher than
expected and for 1 in 5 (19%) found bank charges to be higher than
expected when abroad.
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8. 8
Main Findings:
Travelling Abroad
Making Complaints
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9. Plans to Travel Abroad This Year
(Base: All adults aged 16+ - 1,001)
9
Planning to Travel Abroad (n=578)
%
%
Gender
59
Male
56
Female
No Yes
Age 54
29%
16-24
61
13%
Making Complaints
58% 25-34
35-44
52
53
45-54
64
Don’t know 55+
Region 67
Dublin 52
Rest of Leinster 58
Almost 6 in 10 (58%) adults plan to travel
Munster 50
abroad on holidays this year. Adults from Dublin
Conn/Ulster
and higher socio-economic groups are more
likely to travel abroad whilst 35-54’s, Rest of Social Class 67
Leinster, Connacht/Ulster and lower socio- ABC1F50+ 50
economic cohorts are less likely. C2DEF50-
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10. Countries People Intend to Visit This Year
(Base: All who plan to travel abroad this year - 578)
10
% %
Spain 36 Australia 3
UK 28 Canada 3
America/USA 13 Netherlands 3
France Making Complaints
13 Greece 2
Italy 11 Croatia 2
Portugal 10 Turkey 2
Germany 6 Sweden 2
Poland 4 Spain is the most popular destination for Irish adults this year with 12 of
the top 15 most popular destinations in Europe. Outside of Europe Irish
adults are going to America, Australia and Canada.
* All others 1% or less
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11. Use of Travel Agent to Book Holidays
(Base: All who plan to travel abroad this year - 578)
11
Planning to use a Travel Agent (n=117)
% Gender %
Male 24
Female 17
No Age
Yes
70% 16-24 17
25-34 19
Making Complaints
20%
35-44 23
10% 45-54 18
55+ 23
Region
Don’t know Dublin 24
Rest of Leinster 21
Munster 20
1 in 5 (20%) plan to use a travel agent when planning
Conn/Ulster 13
their holiday. Adults from Connacht/Ulster are least
likely to use a travel agent. Social Class
ABC1F50+ 17
C2DEF50- 24
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12. Intention to Take Out Travel Insurance
(Base: All who plan to travel abroad this year - 578)
12
Planning to Take Out Travel Insurance (n=372)
% Gender %
Male 65
Female 64
Age
No 16-24 44
Yes
30%
25-34 58
60
6% Making Complaints
64%
35-44
45-54 75
55+ 78
Don’t know
Region
Dublin 69
Rest of Leinster 64
Almost 2 in 3 (64%) of those who plan to travel abroad Munster 62
are intending to take out travel insurance. Less than half Conn/Ulster 60
(44%) of 16-24 year olds think they will take out travel Social Class
insurance whereas 3 in 4 of those over the age of 45 will ABC1F50+ 68
take out insurance. 61
C2DEF50-
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13. Been Abroad on Holidays in the Past Three Years
(Base: All adults aged 16+ - 1,001)
13
Been Abroad in Past Three Years (n=796)
%
Gender %
Male 80
Female 79
No Yes Age
20%
16-24 80
80
Making Complaints 25-34
35-44 81
80% 45-54 78
55+ 79
Region
Dublin 85
4 in 5 (80%) Irish adults have travelled abroad on Rest of Leinster 80
holidays in the past three years. Of those who have, Munster 76
people from Dublin were most likely to travel abroad Conn/Ulster 76
(85%) whereas lower socio-economic groups were Social Class
least likely to travel abroad (75%). 84
ABC1F50+
C2DEF50- 75
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14. Do you Compare Different Travel Insurance Product
Providers?
(Base: All who plan on travelling abroad or who have travelled
14 abroad in the past three years – 836)
All Who Compare Providers (n=441)
% Gender %
Male 53
Female 52
Age
No Yes 16-24 31
25%
25-34 52
51
Have not 22%
Making Complaints
53% 35-44
45-54 62
55+ 64
taken/Do not
plan to take out Region
insurance Dublin 53
Rest of Leinster 56
Munster 51
Just over half (53%) of Irish adults compare travel
Conn/Ulster 50
insurance providers when travelling abroad
[equivalent to 68% for those taking out travel Social Class
insurance]. This falls to just 31% for those under ABC1F50+ 55
the age of 25 whilst those over the age of 45 are C2DEF50- 50
most likely to compare insurance providers.
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15. Criteria Used for Comparing Travel
Insurance Providers
(Base: All who compare travel insurance - 441)
15
Price Level of Cover Other Terms and Conditions
% % %
Yes
Yes
Yes
98% 94% 76%
2% No 24%
No Making Complaints
6%
No
Nearly every Irish adult (98%) who compares travel insurance providers uses ‘price’ as a selection
criteria. 94% look at the ‘level of cover’ yet only 3 in 4 (76%) take ‘other terms and conditions’ into
consideration.
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16. Problems When Abroad on Holidays
(Base: All who have travelled abroad on holidays in the past three years - 796)
16
Flights Using Bank Card While Abroad Accommodation
% % %
Yes 14 Yes 12 Yes
17
% 86 % %
83 88
No No No
% % %
Making Complaints 17% of Irish adults have
Car Hire Claiming on Travel Insurance experienced problems with
% % their flights when travelling
abroad, 14% have had
Yes Yes
8% 8% difficulty using their bank card
92 92 while abroad and 12% had
No No
% % problems with their
accommodation. Just 8% of
Irish adults have experienced
problems with car hire or
claiming travel insurance on
holidays.
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17. Whether or Not Complained About Problem
(Base: All who experienced a problem while abroad on holidays - 266)
17
Using Bank Card While
Flights (n=138) Abroad (n=109) Accommodation (n=99)
% % %
36 No 29
No % 60 %
64 40
No % 71
% %
%
Car Hire (n=67)* Making Complaints
Claiming on Travel
% Insurance (n=67)* Circa 7 in 10 adults
Yes % complained when they
57 experienced a problem in
No 69 Yes
% relation to accommodation
%
43 31 (71%) or in relation to
% No
% claiming on travel insurance
(69%). 16-24 year olds are
least likely to complain about
problems across the board.
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18. Whether Problem was Resolved to Your Satisfaction
(Base: All who experienced a problem while abroad on holidays - 266)
18
Using Bank Card
Flights (n=138) While Abroad n=(109) Accommodation (n=99)
% % %
Yes 65 Yes 69 Yes
46 54 35 % 31 %
No % % No No
% %
Making Complaints oversaid it(54%)resolved to
Claiming on
Just
problems
half
was
with flight
Car Hire (n=67)* Travel Insurance (n=67)*
their satisfaction. For bank cards it
% Yes %
is 2 in 3 (64%) and 7 in 10 (69%)
61 54 Yes were satisfied with the solution to
% % accommodation problems. 3 in 5
39 46
No No
%
(61%) who have experienced
% difficulty with car hire abroad had
their problem resolved to their
satisfaction and over half (54%)
with travel insurance issues
contend that a satisfactory
solution was found.
*Caution small base size
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19. Do You Check the Following Before
Going on Holidays
19 (Base: All who plan on travelling abroad or who have
travelled abroad in the past three years – 836)
Phone Charges When Abroad Bank Charges When Abroad
% %
Yes
No 46 54
Yes
No 42
58
%
%
Making Complaints
% %
Slightly more than half (54%) of Irish adults check the roaming charges for their phones before
travelling abroad while just 4 in 10 (42%) check bank charges before travelling. Interestingly 38%
do not check either.
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20. Costs of Phone Roaming and Bank Charges
While Abroad
20
(Base: All who have travelled abroad on holidays
in the past three years - 796)
%
Substantially lower Substantially higher
than expected (1) (2) (4) than expected (5) In-line with
expectations (3)
Costs of Phone Roaming (10) 3 7 20 7 (27)
Charges While Abroad 62
Costs of Bank Charges Making Complaints
(9) 2 (19) 7 16 3
72
While Abroad
Phone roaming costs fall in-line with the expectations of 63% of Irish adults. Just 10% say they
are lower than expected while over 1 in 4 (27%) feel they are higher. Bank charges are more
closely aligned with expectations at 72% of the population. Just 9% feel they are less expected
and 19% think they are more than expected.
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