“Three quarters of people desperate for a holiday, with London topping the list of ‘bluest’ UK cities,” says icelolly.com
New research published today has revealed that a whopping 76% of Brits are in desperate need of a break, with over half (57%) craving a beach holiday to banish the January Blues.
The research was commissioned by icelolly.com to coincide with Blue Monday, traditionally seen as the saddest day of the year. More than a third (38%) of respondents said that spending quality time with loved ones was the greatest motivator for getting away, with a staggering two thirds (67%) of parents declaring that they’re extremely in need of a beach holiday (in comparison to 55% of non-parents).
The survey also looked into which UK cities are most in need of time away. London topped the charts, with 68% of capital-city dwellers revealing that they need a sunny break; perhaps unsurprisingly, given recent turmoil on both overground trains and tubes. Glasgow took second place, with 65% of Glaswegians desperate to get away from the stormy Scottish weather, and Birmingham came in third.
What’s more, icelolly.com also found that women appear to be ready to sacrifice more than men, for a holiday this January, with 39% admitting that they would give up chocolate for a whole year in order to jet away to sunnier climes, compared to only 14% of men. 8% of respondents even claimed they would be willing to give up their January salary!
Sandi Mann, senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “Most people are now back at work and the cold, dark evenings are starting to take their toll. It can feel like a long time since Christmas and a long time until the summer, a season associated with warmth, fun and relaxation. Everyone needs things to look forward to and something as simple as planning a sunny family beach holiday can go a long way to helping us get through the January blues.”
Ross Matthews, Chief Marketing Officer of icelolly.com, said: “These figures clearly show that January Blues are sweeping the nation! In response, we are aiming to bring some sunshine to Blue Monday with an exciting competition for a lucky winner to win a holiday for two to Greece, which will run exclusively today on our Twitter account. To enter, simply go to icelolly.com’s Twitter page @icelollyholiday and retweet the competition tweet with the hashtag #BlueMonYay.
“We’re also launching an inspiring new plugin to brighten up people’s browsers with beautiful destination images.”
ENDS
Press contact:
Emily Learmonth
Senior Account Executive, MC2
emilyl@thisismc2.com
0161 236 1352
Notes to editors
Founded in 2005, icelolly.com is today one of the UK’s leading holiday price comparison websites, with more than 20 million visitors each year.
Customers can compare 130 million great deals on package holidays from some of the top travel companies every day. Booking is simple, fast and safe – all a holidaymaker has to do is call the phone number provided and they will be connected to a dedicated travel agent advertiser partner, who will process their reservation as well as provide all the required information.
Being able to compare deals from more than 30 different Travel Agent Partners, who add their latest offers daily, allows customers to save money on their holiday booking, making icelolly.com a firm favourite with British families.