AIBU to encourage people to holiday in the UK this year?

[BaliPebbles]

Growing up I did a few holidays in the Wales but as I got older we did the traditional Brit holiday of going to Spain (or Greece) for 2 weeks, lying on a deckchair everyday except one when we went out somewhere for a bit of culture (but became anxious of missing out on one tanning day), eating loads of creme caramel and then flying home and starting to peel before you left the arrivals lounge. As money improved, those hotels just got better and the destinations a bit more far away e.g. lying on a beach in Cancun.

I then lived overseas for nearly 20 years and went on some amazing holidays, still thinking that holidaying in the UK is just for the unenlightened.

Then we moved back to the UK with primary age children and we ventured to do a UK holiday. We were actually astonished at how great a time we had and how much happier the DC were and how much less stress it was. Mine don't actually want to be dragged through an airport and spend a whole day travelling, they don't want to go too far and away for too long. They like being in the car and stopping off. They like British things. Our UK holidays now consist of great food, interesting and off the beaten track excursions, somewhere nice to stay, history, culture and some activities.

Anyway, the reason why I am bleating on about this is because I just received a survey about using airlines once the lockdown is over. I filled it in and I realised that I don't actually want to go on a plane now for a long time. I don't want to add to climate change, I don't want to end up somewhere where coronavirus ramps up during my holiday, I do not want to be in a 5 hour queue either end of my plane journey and I don't want to listen to people coughing round me on a plane.

So, AIBU to remind people that we need to boost our own economy quite urgently and that actually, if you sit down and spend a couple of hours on the internet, you can make yourself a brilliant itinerary for a holiday in the UK because actually holidaying in Britain is great!

So many people doing AI never see anything of the country they are in though. Lots of holidaymakers just cooped up in one resort relaxing when there is usually more to see. Often AI resorts could be anywhere.

We do AI all the time, still go out and explore. We take boat trips to see the coastline and snorkel, either hire a car or take excursions to do hikes/visit historic sites/towns etc.
We just like AI as its easy for the days we stay at the resort or for when we're back from trips and know we can get a snack/few drinks and not have to keep tabs on the cost

But many people aren't going abroad for AI holidays. We go to museums, places like the Alhambra in Granada, Roman ruins, gardens, hiking in the mountains, wandering around cities, architecture, galleries, scuba diving in warm clear water in calm seas.

Usually cheaper too, with better food. We went to the Mallorcan version of Lands End. Parking was free, entrance was free, cafe was cheap with quality home made food and coffee was excellent. Anyone who has been to the UK Lands End will know what a tourist rip off at every turn it is.

I like diving in the UK too but the water is cold and dark and you're blown out 30-50% of the time so often a big waste of time and money.

YABU I go on holiday abroad to see different cultures, different environments, animals and enjoy new foods and ways of living ... all with the added benefit of more-or-less guaranteed good weather. Weather in UK is too variable for me.

A holiday abroad might cost more money but it’s better value often.
I just don’t find UK holidays very relaxing, usually there is driving involved as public transport is crap and expensive. Entry fees are expensive, food is expensive, parking is expensive.
It’s much easier and cheaper to be occupied in guaranteed warm weather and warm seas!

Just to add I don't think its going to be possible or enjoyable for me to go on holiday abroad this year now. So I'll stay at home and do some chores, spending money on paint and diy stuff so still helping the economy somewhat.
But if other people can and do want to go abroad then good luck to them and hope they have a lovely time

Lands end is horribly over commercialised. I’ve got a photo of me and the DCs there one August bank holiday .... pissing down with rain and hail force winds

I’ve had 7 weeks doing chores!!! I need to get out!!

Well based on the recent guidelines from both Scotland ( where I live) and England, I'll holiday wherever I can, whenever I can this year. But looks as if UK may be the only option, which is fine.

Not even sure the UK will be an option tbh. Cornwall doesn't want tourists for sure.

Fair enough if you prefer UK holidays, but if you’ve never actually taken your children abroad you’re seriously holding them back from the world. They’re missing out on so much.

That’s a load of bollocks. The poster takes the kids away to new places so they experience new things.
I don’t think children process bring abroad in the same way as adults anyway. I’ve noticed that families that seem to have the happiest holidays tend to do either the same holiday or same type of things on their holidays. If kids want to see the world they will do soon enough.

Mine has been all over the world on many trips. By 13 he wasn’t the least bit interested in going away and much prefers the drive to Scotland and walking holidays up there. I loved my U.K. trips growing up but couldn’t wait to be off and did a friends holiday at 17 and worked abroad for the next 3 years.

I holiday every year in the U.K. sadly I don’t think there will be any holidays this year even in the U.K.

Don’t feel particularly welcome to holiday in the U.K. this year. Social distancing and travel with the risk of catching COVID and getting stuck away from home in a what feels like a hostile part of the U.K. does not appeal. We won’t be going anywhere.

What exactly is the risk of getting Covid in Cornwall? They seem to think us infected emmetts will give it to them. Lots of holiday area economies are going to crash. So we don’t get to go in holiday there but will pay for their decline by higher taxes. Lose lose.

Cornwall will be the first to ask for handouts.

Cornwall is and always will be one of my favourite places on earth. The beaches are beautiful, as is the scenery. The local seafood is wonderful and the air is always fresh.
However, unfortunately as others as mentioned, UK holidays can be astronomical in price. Plus the weather is, 9 out of 10 times, crap (in my experience anyway!)

As soon as I can get out of this country, and feel the warm air as I step off am aeroplane, I'm gone.

What exactly is the risk of getting Covid in Cornwall?

Zero. They’ve had the lowest rates of infection in the country. They say they want to keep it that way but I think a large motivation is keeping tourists away. They don’t like being reliant on tourism and the money it brings. So they naively think they’ll manage without - and ultimately take government handouts instead. Ironically paid for from the taxes of the very people who want to holiday there.

It’s complicated. It’s about pride and xenophobia. Always has been.

i'm still struggling with the 'abroad' being cheaper idea

You have to compare like with like and not everyone has the same circumstances. Obviously if you're paying school holiday prices for flights, that adds a high fixed cost and it will be cheaper to drive to somewhere in the UK where your only cost is fuel. However, if you're a couple travelling in term time, you could get two return flights for £100 or even less. That's about the same as the fuel it would take to drive to Cornwall from northern England and back.

In most cases, accomodation in somewhere like Spain or Greece will be cheaper than Cornwall, but you're still ahead with Cornwall cost wise, due to the cost of the flights.

But after that, eating out and supermarket food in many European countries, certainly Spain, Portugal and Malta is cheaper than the UK, alcohol much cheaper, parking is more likely to be free, the weather is better so you're less likely to be paying for indoor attractions and in my experience, entrance to waterparks, historical sites, use of things like cable cars all cheaper in these countries, even with the current exchange rate.

Of course you could do a UK holiday cheaper than a European holiday, but you could equally have a cheaper European holiday than a UK one and many people have spent thousands on a family holiday to Cornwall only to find that it's pissed it down for days at a time and they've either spent loads of time in a cottage on the internet/watching films, which they could do at home any time they like, or they've spent a lot on indoor attractions, or carried on with beaches and walks, making the best of it, but most people don't want to spend August in a raincoat.

And they see that they could spend a week relaxing in the sun, swimming in the sea or sitting outside a restaurant having a leisurely meal, for similar money, or less by going abroad.

One posted earlier said a 5 hotel abroad was cheaper than the uk. I know our top hotels are expensive but 5 abroad is often just a holiday company ranking and most Brits don’t get near a proper 5* hotel abroad. Just a resort hotel with lots of facilities. So people simply don’t compare like with like.

However lots of people do like the sun! I don’t and we tended to prefer experience or cultural holidays. Sun sea and sand gets boring for us. Just watching the elephants on tv Ch4 last night made us very sad we cannot just take off and go to Botswana right now. The 5* luxury camp there was $3500 a night!

Fair enough if you prefer UK holidays, but if you’ve never actually taken your children abroad you’re seriously holding them back from the world. They’re missing out on so much.

Depends where you take them. I can't imagine any loss for the child if the parents usually take them to an all inclusive resort in Benidorm or Magaluf and spends the week swimming in the pool and eating crap in the hotel buffet, whilst the parents get legless every night on the free local beer.

But, yes, if parents take them on a Kenyan safari or European city breaks then, yes, they would be missing out.

So people simply don’t compare like with like.

Exactly. People who go to 5 package holiday hotels in med resorts aren't really going to 5 hotels.

The "proper" 5 hotels you book independently from the hotel chains are VERY different to the beach 5 hotels and are usually 2, 3 or 4 times the price. When we've looked at "proper" hotels in foreign countries, the price is very comparable to those in the UK.

Package holiday firms tend to use "special" beach/city hotels aimed at the package holiday market - they are usually elderly and lack the modern amenities. They get their stars simply by "ticking boxes" to comply with local rating systems, such as having a pool, laundry service, etc.

YABU I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than 'holiday' in the UK. It isn't a holiday if it doesn't involve going abroad as far as I am concerned. Too many wonderful places to visit across the world.

However lots of people do like the sun! I don’t and we tended to prefer experience or cultural holidays. Sun sea and sand gets boring for us.

I like a bit of sun but a resort beach backed with sunloungers and umbrellas is my idea of hell.

It’s much easier and cheaper to be occupied in guaranteed warm weather and warm seas!

Which is fine if all you want to do is sun and swim.

Even abroad, public transport can be pretty poor outside the main cities,, attractions can be very expensive, restaurants etc are similar priced to the UK. The admission costs for a Med water park or similar theme park are pretty much the same as in the UK.

True, things used to be cheaper abroad - when we first went to Spain, for example, we were looking at a simple evening meal for a fiver each inc drinks, when in the UK it was about £20. When we last went last year, I'd say they were the same. The Euro caused a lot of prices to rise when it was first introduced and of course, recent exchange rate movements have made things even more comparable. Prices abroad aren't really cheaper anymore, and of course, you also have the costs of flights and getting to/from your UK airport.

I'm still struggling with the 'abroad' being cheaper idea

I live in the UK, not on the mainland though. I priced a week in a caravan in Dorset for the first week of July, so not even in school holidays. It was just under £1k for the week, which didn't include any entertainment passes or wifi. I need £500 to get the ferry, another maybe £150 for fuel to drive to Dorset and obviously food/eating out/entertainment. Days out in the UK are very expensive. So that week I would need to set aside at least £2k.

Budget airlines do £9.99 flights to Spain and Portugal, you do need to go out of season though. We are not sun worshippers so it isn't a problem for us. One year we spent 10 days in Spain, hired a car, stayed in Costa Del Sol but did day trips to Granada, Seville, Ronda etc and it all cost about £1500 all in, thereby making it more expensive for me to holiday in the UK.