Travelling abroad 2012

Research commissioned by the National Consumer Agency and conducted by Amárach Research has found that 6 in 10 (58%) Irish adults plan to travel abroad this year, with the majority travelling to European countries.

Among the survey’s key findings:

• 20% of consumers plan to use travel agents to book their holidays
• 2 in 3 (64%) say they will take out travel insurance for their holiday this year. Substantial differences across the age groups were observed – just 44% of the 16-24 age group plan to take out travel insurance, and this increases to 78% for those over 55
• 2 in 3 (68%) who take out travel insurance compare different product providers

In terms of the 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 cards
• 12% have had accommodation-related problems

Consumers were most likely to complain with regard to accommodation (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 1 in 5 (19%) found bank charges to be higher than expected when abroad.