British women are spending £7bn* on a pre-holiday make-over to lead the glamour stakes on the beach this summer, said a holiday spend report released today by Travelodge Travel Insurance. The wannabe celebrity look is encouraging the average female holiday goer to splash out £293.52 on clothes, shoes, accessories and beauty treatments to re-create the look of popular fashion icons such as J-Lo, Coleen, Beyonce and Posh Spice.
The typical female holiday make-over entails** Waxing £30, eye-brow reshape £5, eyelash tint £15, manicure / pedicure £40, £30 new bikini, £10 kaftan, £5 flip-flops, £8 beach bag, £15 sun glasses, £75 holiday clothes, £40 holiday shoes and £20 on jewellery.
The report states that men are also more focused on holiday fashion than ever before with more money spent on 'look' than the traditional male obsession, gadgets. The average male will spend £101.25 on his holiday spruce up.
An example of an average male holiday spree could include: £20 haircut, £30 chest and back wax, £30 shorts and tee-shirt, £15 sun glasses and £5 flip-flops.
Guy Parsons, Travelodge Chief Operating Officer said: "These findings highlight just how much we are influenced by the celebrity culture. It seems that our holiday look is just as important as the holiday itself."
The fashion findings were part of a larger Travelodge report reviewing all spend relating to the typical UK holiday. The survey revealed that the nation is spending a total of £25 billion*** on all holiday extras equating to an average spend of £545 each.
Listed below is the average Brits pre-holiday shopping list:
New clothes and shoes: £124.91
Beauty treatments: £46.35
Toiletries: £36.94
Books/magazines: £18.56
Gadget accessories: £17.70
Gadgets £87.33
Food / drink you cannot live without £10.11
Food for the journey/at the airport: £14.73
Beach equipment/toys/games £29.22
Travel insurance £42.16
Airport/duty free £42.75
Other holiday expenses (visa/passport): £74.24
Total: £545.00
Despite all of the spend on new accessories and fashion, one in five (18%) of respondents still elected to travel without insurance in order to cut down on costs.
Guy Parsons, Travelodge Chief Operating Officer said: "As a nation it seems that we will leave no stone unturned when preparing for a week in the sun but some of us are forgetting the basics. Taking a holiday without travel insurance is a gamble that nobody should be prepared to take."
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Notes to Editor:
- The poll was conducted by OnePoll amongst 3000 British adults
- £7 billion is calculated using the figure women spend £293.52 on a pre-holiday make-over x 24,000,000 (UK figure for female adults)
- Typical spend for women and men calculated using prices from Saks beauty Salons - UK's leading hair and beauty franchise group and Marks and Spencer's high street store.
- The *figure was calculated using the UK adult population of 47,020,700 UK and multiplying by average holiday essentials spend of £545.00
- £545 x 47,020,700 = 25 626 281 500
- £500 is the average holiday spend as quoted by ABTA
- The survey revealed that 66% of Brits will be taking their main holiday abroad this year
- For further information on Travelodge travel insurance please visit www.travelodge.co.uk Single trip to Europe available from £6.61 and annual multi trip available from £54.27
- Travelodge Travel Insurance is provided by AIG Europe and underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company and Landmark Insurance Company.