Parents Contemplate Taking Their Children On Holiday During Term Time

A recent survey commissioned by www.HolidayGems.co.uk revealed that 40% of parents admit to taking their children out of school during term time for the purpose of a family holiday. Over two-thirds of them cited the increased cost of holidays during term time as their justification for doing so.

Chris Blackwell, Sales Director at Holiday Gems said : “Parents could easily pay almost double in the summer holidays compared to, say, June when it’s quieter. This is down to supply, demand and bottom line profits of Airlines, Major Tour Operators and Hoteliers”.

A quarter of parents feel that penalty charges for term time holidays are unjust

The survey, of which there were 2,000 respondents with children aged between 4 and 16, found that just 15% of parents were penalised in the form of a fine for taking their children out of school.

The study also found that a quarter of parents thought the prospect of fines to be unjust. Despite the potential ramifications imposed by the government, it seems that the trend of taking ‘term time holidays’ is showing no signs of easing up in the future. 13% of the parents asked intend to take their children out of school for a holiday in 2016, with a further 18% contemplating the prospect.

Keeping holiday costs down during the summer holidays

However there are things that can be done to keep costs of the main annual family break down even when taking them within the notorious peak summer school holidays period,.

Chris explains : “All-inclusive holidays for example, can often provide great value when compared with the cost of food and drink on self-catering deals – particularly for families who are travelling to destinations where currency rates are less favourable.

“Also, shop around! By doing so you could potentially save a substantial amount off the cost of a holiday compared with major tour operators and that’s where we provide major value as in many cases we can save a family hundreds of pounds as we do all that searching for our customers via our advanced comparison systems.”