Estimated reading time: 0 minutes
Although the holidays this year start exceptionally early, Poles are not waiting until the summer and are keen to take a day off to enjoy a holiday over the long June weekend. Wanting to cut costs, they are increasingly opting for so-called staycations, i.e. choosing accommodation and attractions close to home, within a two-hour drive or train ride.
According to Nocowanie.pl data, Poles invariably like to travel in spring during the long June weekend. This year, the service recorded nearly 19% more bookings than in the previous year. Traditionally, we go to the mountains, mainly to Zakopane, but also to Karpacz, Białka Tatrzańska or Szklarska Poręba. If we go to the seaside, it is most often to Gdańsk, Kołobrzeg or Łeba.
City break-type trips are also popular. The list of the most popular June destinations includes Kraków, Wrocław and Warsaw.
Prices remain at the same level as in May, with an average of PLN 133 per person per night and an average booking of PLN 974. However, not everyone has to set their sights on such expenses.
“It all depends on the type and standard of facilities, it is also worth looking for promotions or special offers that some facilities offer. In our service, you can easily find offers below 50 PLN per person per night, even in Zakopane or Sopot, which are considered to be expensive,”
emphasises Tomasz Zaniewski, Vice-President of Nocowanie.pl.
Another way to save is to shorten stays. For the long June weekend, the average length of a booking is 2.47 days, which is 10% shorter than last year.
Shortening the length of a trip is not only due to cost, but also to the fact that we are increasingly swapping a long holiday, planned well in advance, for several shorter trips. According to a Nocowanie.pl survey conducted among users of the service, as many as 41% of them plan 2-3 trips a year, another 13% of respondents go away 3-5 times a year, and 12.8% of respondents intend to go away even more than 5 times.
The survey also showed that we are increasingly giving up long and tiring journeys, choosing destinations close to home. Already 14% of respondents are planning close trips – within 120 kilometres of where they live.
“We see several reasons why the ‘staycation’ trend has been growing for several seasons,” explains Tomasz Zaniewski. “First, it was a pandemic. In times of austerity, we looked for places close to home. Now, with the high cost of living, we want to reduce expenses. In addition, by shortening our holiday time, we don’t want to spend half of it in a tiring journey,”
he stresses.
Indeed, as many as 45% of those opting for a staycation holiday highlight the reduction in travel costs, while 15% forgo strenuous journeys because of children and pets.
Others – 18% – appreciate the attractiveness of the immediate area and want to support local business, while 9% admit that they simply do not like long-distance travel.