British honeymooners leave tradition at the altar

Loved-up Brits are shunning traditional two-week beach honeymoons in favour of having an activity-based adventure with their partners, according to new research released this week. More than 2,000 British honeymooners took part in the survey commissioned by teletextholidays.co.uk.

The research reveals that over four in five honeymooners did not take a traditional foreign beach holiday (89%), choosing instead to stay in the UK (32%), or take a city break (15%), adventure holiday (9%) or cruise (3%). Over half of those surveyed (58%) agreed that they consider the traditional two-week holidays to beach resorts old fashioned, while a similar number (56%) revealed that the thought of having nothing to do and being surrounded by tables of other couples filled them with dread.

Respondents revealed that their post nuptial trips of a lifetime come at a price, with the average honeymoon in 2008 costing £2,580. Couples admit to spending most of this figure on flights (£1,029) and accommodation (£1,008). They are also taking an average of £922 in spending money and shelling out at least £543 on excursions and activities, with 43% rating it as important that they had planned activities to break up the time and 22% admitting that they worry they will get bored or that they will argue (8%).

In an effort to maximize their honeymoon experience increasing numbers of newlyweds are opting for either two centre honeymoons (25%) or more than one honeymoon (15%), with a short haul break straight after the wedding followed by a more adventurous, far flung holiday later in the year as the most popular way of splitting these holidays (16%). Reasons for taking the longer break a few months post the wedding included trying to make the celebrations last longer (9%), wanting to have a Summer wedding but take their long haul break in Winter (8%) and not being able to get the time they wanted off work straight after their wedding (6%).

An increasing number of couples are choosing to put contributing towards the cost of the honeymoon as an option on their wedding list (26%), with two in five (42%) admitting that they would prefer that guests paid towards the honeymoon or activities to do while they are there rather than buying more traditional wedding gifts such as gadgets for the home. One in six (15%) were given the honeymoon as a wedding gift from family members, while one in ten (11%) had the company of family members on their honeymoon, often to help with childcare.

Ash Makkar, Marketing Director at Teletext Holidays says, “British honeymooners are breaking away from tradition and opting to take more adventurous breaks, swapping beachside meals for two for action exploits, cruises and safari trips. Our research shows that they are willing to spend more money in order to make their trip of a lifetime just that, and are increasingly asking wedding guests to contribute to their holiday rather than give them household items.”

Respondents from Scotland were the most likely to avoid other couples, with 64% reporting that the thought of being surrounded by honeymooning couples filled them with dread, whilst West Midland’s newlyweds were the most sociable (53%).

Scots are also the biggest honeymoon spenders splashing out on lavish £2879.08 breaks, which is £350 above the average honeymoon cost. Respondents from the North East look for a bargain spending an average of £1297.55 on their holiday. However, they were most likely to break the bank with their spending wads - North East honeymooners spent a staggering £1082.88 over their stay.

The split between taking their honeymoon in the UK, short and long haul destinations was fairly even. Of those that chose to stay within the UK (32%), the most popular destinations are London (16%), The Lake District (15%) and Scotland (10%).

The 32% who chose places on the short haul list favoured Spain (26%), France (15%) and Italy (14%). While for long haul destinations (chosen by 36%), the most popular by far proved to be the United States (27%), while Caribbean destinations (12%) and the Maldives (8%) remain an appealing option. Mexico (5%), Australia (4%) and New Zealand (3%) also make the top ten.

The teletextholidays.co.uk Top 10 long haul honeymoon destinations are:

1) USA – 27%
2) Barbados and the Caribbean – 12%
3) Maldives – 8%
4) Mexico – 5%
5) Australia – 4%
6) New Zealand – 3%
7) Mauritius – 2%
8) Brazil – 2%
9) South Africa – 2%
10) North Africa – 2%

The teletextholidays.co.uk Top 10 short haul honeymoon destinations are:

1) Spain – 26%
2) France – 15%
3) Italy – 14%
4) Portugal – 7%
5) Ireland – 5%
6) Austria – 3%
7) Germany – 3%
8) Croatia – 3%
9) Bulgaria – 2%
10) Poland – 1%

The teletextholidays.co.uk Top 10 UK honeymoon destinations are:

1) London – 16%
2) Lake District – 15%
3) Scotland – 10%
4) Wales – 9%
5) Peak District – 5%
6) Edinburgh – 5%
7) Glasgow – 3%
8) Norfolk – 3%
9) Cardiff – 3%
10) Suffolk – 1%