Singapore Parents Most Likely to Leave Children Behind for a Vacation, But for Good Reasons – Expedia.com.sg® Study

The study also found that six in 10 Singaporeans have majority of their favourite memories occurring on a family vacation, reinforcing the role of family holidays in promoting bonding for the family unit

SINGAPORE, 5 DECEMBER 2017 — Expedia.com.sg® today released findings from the 2017 Importance of Family Travel Study¹, which found that Singaporean parents are most likely to leave their children behind to go on a vacation among the Asian parents surveyed. According to the study, 41 percent of parents in Singapore would leave their children to go on a holiday, ahead of Hong Kong with 27 percent, Taiwan with 23 percent and Malaysia with 19 percent of parents who would do the same.

The report also revealed a surprise finding – 75 percent of young millennials (teenagers aged 13 to 17) in Singapore picked their parents as their favourite holiday travel companions, compared to just 44 percent of parents picking their children as their ideal travel companions – marking an interesting juxtaposition between the attitudes of the two groups of travellers.

While the study uncovered significant differences in family travel preferences between young millennials and parents in Singapore, it also highlighted the vital role of family holidays in creating shared family memories and promoting family bonding.

When asked about the proportion of family memories that took place during a family vacation, six in 10 young millennials and parents in Singapore said that over half of their favourite memories occurred on a family holiday. Family holidays also served as important platforms for family bonding – 95 percent of Singapore parents agree that they feel closer to their children on family holidays, 93 percent of young millennials said that they feel closer to their sibling and 92 percent of parents said that they feel closer to their partner when on family vacations.

Family Travel Fun for Children, Stressful for Parents

Despite the multitude of benefits that come with family vacations, it is not always easy for parents to take their children on a holiday. In a fast-paced society like Singapore, work-related stress, coupled with the need to juggle multiple roles in the family can mean less time and energy for parents to plan for holidays. Additionally, going on family holidays mean that majority of Singapore parents will need to relinquish control on things such as their parenting style, family rules and preferred choice of activities.

Based on the survey findings, 54 percent of Singapore parents will let up on the rules and chores on a family vacation, and 43 percent will allow their children to stay up later than usual. 85 percent of Singapore parents also agree that family vacations are more focused on children’s activities and require more time for research and planning.

As a result, close to nine in 10 parents in Singapore affirmed that they need to do more research for holidays with their children compared to holidays without them. However, nine in 10 parents also agree that well-planned family holidays with their children result in more meaningful vacations for everyone, making the time and money investments worthwhile.

Singapore Parents Most Likely to Leave Children Behind for a Vacation, for Good Reasons

With more planning, less control on family vacations, parents in Singapore might feel a greater sense of responsibility when travelling with, as compared to travelling without, their children. When asked about whether they would leave their children behind to go on a vacation, 41 percent of Singapore parents said they would do so, coming in tops among markets in Asia ahead of Hong Kong (27 percent), Taiwan (23 percent) and Malaysia (19 percent).

When asked about the reasons for doing so, 61 percent cited “reconnecting with their partner” as the top reason for leaving their children behind, while 58 percent cited the need to take a break from their children.

Young Millennials in Singapore Chose Their Parents as Favourite Travel Companions

While Singapore parents demonstrate a need for time away from their children from time to time, majority of parents still enjoy going on holidays with them. However, when compared to the sentiments of young millennials, parents in Singapore seem less excited about going on holidays with their children – 75 percent of young millennials said that they would pick their parents as their favourite holiday companions while only 44 percent of Singapore parents chose their children as their favourite travel companions.

Non-Parents Still Enjoy Going on Family Holidays With Their Parents

Besides uncovering the attitudes of young millennials and parents surrounding family travel, the survey also looked into the preferences and attitudes of non-parents on family vacations. The findings revealed that family vacations play a key role in generating some of the most treasured memories for non-parents. Six in 10 non-parents in Singapore said that most of their family memories occurred on family vacations, and 94 percent said that they feel that their family is happier during times of family vacations.

Additionally, 36 percent of them chose their parents as their favourite travel companions. While this figure is lower than markets such as Malaysia and Thailand in Southeast Asia, the percentage is higher than other developed markets such as Hong Kong (28 percent), Japan (28 percent) and South Korea (33 percent), showing that non-parents in Singapore still enjoy travelling with their parents more than their other Asian counterparts.

“Family vacations are important platforms for creating shared family memories and facilitating family bonding. While going on holidays with children can be stressful at times, the rewards far exceed the time and money invested. At Expedia, our mission is to revolutionise travel with technology to help people go places. Our local teams are always looking to deliver rich and meaningful travel experiences, with affordable hotel deals across more than 500,000 properties coupled with more than 500 flight options and a host of travel activities to help simplify the travel planning process for families and inspire them to go on more family vacations to foster happier families,” said Simon Fiquet, General Manager for Southeast Asia and India, Brand Expedia.

For more information, visit the Expedia Singapore Family Travel site.

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About the Study

The Expedia 2017 Importance of Family Travel Study was conducted on behalf of Expedia by Northstar Research Partners in May 2017. Covering 28 markets across North America, Europe, South America and Asia Pacific using an amalgamated group of best-in-class panels, the study was conducted with a total of 17,079 respondents – including 5,570 young millennials aged 13 to 17, 8,486 parents and 3,023 non-parents. Asian markets that were featured in the study include Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. 200 young millennials, 300 parents and 100 non-parents in Singapore were surveyed in the study.

About Expedia.com.sg®

Expedia.com.sg® offers travelers a wide selection of hotels, activities and travel services at attractive rates. With hundreds of thousands hotel partners worldwide and comprehensive choices of flight inventory made readily available on Expedia.com.sg®, travelers can book everything they need for a holiday – rooms to meet every budget, activities of every kind and travel services to complement.

For more information, please contact:

Lavinia Rajaram                                                   Julie Toh

Expedia Asia                                                         IN.FOM (Partnering agency for Expedia.com.sg®)

(65) 8428 0079                                                     (65) 9782 5190

lrajaram@expedia.com                                      julie@infom.asia