Consumers refuse to give up ‘the good stuff’

One in five of us plan to dodge the depression by dedicating more of our time, more often, to the good things in life, declaring that it is more important than ever to have fun now in order to mentally survive the economic downturn.

The survey by lastminute.com revealed that despite fears of economic recession, 70% of people's monthly expenditure for leisure activities and holidays has actually risen or remained the same as last year. It also appears 16-24 year olds are the group who place the most importance on the value of entertainment, spending the most significant percentage of their salary (21-30% on average) on finding some fun.

New data released this week by the site show that theatre bookings are up by 22% year on year, dining sales by 35% and festival sales are also up by 35%.

While more than a quarter have admitted to being less generous this year when it comes to treating family and friends, this apparently doesn't mean that we're prepared to curb our own entertainment quota with 17% of us now even more inclined to live for the moment and treat themselves compared to last year.

Holidays are the thing that most of us are refusing to cut back on. In fact more than 3 million of us will spend more on our holidays this year than last. However we are seeing a changing trend in our holiday-going behaviour. Short breaks and shorter holidays are expected to dominate travel plans, with 31% of people stating they will head for short city breaks while just under one in four are still planning to fly off for the traditional two-week dose of summer sun. A further 25% of people stated they had no firm holiday plans yet, waiting instead for last minute money saving deals.

So when it comes to keeping themselves entertained in 2009 what destinations and leisure pursuits should be topping the nation's good stuff agenda? “A five-star experience at a three-star price has never been more important.” said Mark Bower, Lifestyle Sales Director at lastminute.com. “People are continuing to treat themselves to great value experiences available on lastminute.com such as a spa break or night at the theatre. Activities like Restaurant Week on the site, offering people the chance to experience fine dining at a fraction of the cost are amongst our best sellers.

“If the budget is not quite there for a fortnight’s sunshine, you can still give yourself a break with anything from a two for one spa deal, dinner and theatre packages, festival weekends and unbeatable city breaks to destinations such as Barcelona, Paris and Milan or week’s holidays to European Destinations for under £200.”

Founder of the travel guidebook publishers, Rough Guides, Martin Dunford, commented “British holiday makers obviously still love the classic destinations, but with the economy and exchange rates dictating consumer spend in 2009, there has been a really apparent shift with more people investing their holiday budgets in non-Euro countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco etc as they get more for their buck.”

For more information visit http://goodstuff.lastminute.com