Zombies, Roller Coasters, and Rooms from Outer Space: the 2016 Young Travellers’ Wish List

New research from Jet2holidays has found that what kids really want on holiday is a space-themed hotel in Spain, complete with roller coasters, a water slide, and unlimited sweets and ice cream.
Partnering with Atomik, Jet2holidays surveyed 1,000 children between the ages of 7 and 13 to find out more about their dream holiday. The top five places in Europe, outside of the UK, that kids wanted to visit were:

1. Spain (25%)
2. Italy (13%)
3. France (11%)
4. Greece (8%)
5. Portugal (6%)

The survey revealed that, for 60% of children, the summer holiday was their favourite time of the year, making the annual trip three times more popular than Christmas and 12 times more popular than Easter.

One-fifth (20%) of the kids surveyed said that their ideal hotel would have a space theme, followed closely by an under the sea (19%) or a princess theme (17%) – while 14% of children wanted their dream hotel to have a zombie or scary theme.

As well as theme park rides (49%) and edible treats (52%), kids said their dream hotel would have a beach (45%), zoo animals (27%), and a trampoline (21%). Other desirable features included arcade games, a recliner armchair, and skeletons.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of children said their favourite thing about going on holiday was having the chance to explore and go on adventures. Activities of choice included playing in the pool (34%) and jumping over the waves in the sea (22%).

When asked what they wished they could take with them on holiday, 42% of children said they would take their games console and 30% said they would take their dog. A bike was next on the list (21%), followed closely by their pet cat (14%).

Seven-year-olds said that their mum was the person they would most want to go on holiday with (30%), but this changed as they grew older, with 13-year-olds choosing their best friend (30%). Nearly half of the kids (45%) said they wished their parents spent more time with them and played more games with them on holiday.
Other requests from the children surveyed included:
· Having a disco-themed hotel
· Spending their time climbing trees
· Having skeletons or zombies in their hotel
· Taking St Johnstone FC with them on holiday

Zoe Towers, Head of Product at Jet2holidays, said of the results:
“It’s great to see that family holidays top the list as the favourite time of year for most children, and it’s so interesting to find out exactly what a kid’s ideal holiday looks like when it comes to location, activities, and the hotel.

“We love hearing how imaginative kids can be when it comes to what they want on holiday – a space-themed hotel would definitely be fun, but it would take some planning to bring the whole of St Johnstone FC on a plane to join them!”