Travel Insurance Trends: Saga Identifies Skip-Gen Holidaymakers

Saga, the leading membership organisation for over-50s, has today revealed ‘Skip-Gen Vacations’ as the latest travel trend for 2019 holidays.

Skip-gen holidays – where grandparents take their grandchildren away without their parents – are on the increase, with nearly a third (32%) of grandparents having already taken grandchildren away or actively planning to do so in the future. To support this trend, Saga Travel Insurance is offering free travel cover for grandchildren travelling with grandparents for all policies purchased by 31^st October 2019.

Nearly three quarters (74%) of grandparents say that travelling with their grandchildren frees up valuable time for their own children, but the reasons aren’t purely altruistic – eight in 10 (79%) of grandparents say these holidays help keep them active and seven in 10 say it helps them have a better relationship with their grandchildren.

Holidays within the UK were the destination of choice for nearly half (48%) of grandparents. With Spain the second most popular destination

Whilst cultural travel was important to grandparents, with visiting historical sites and museum visits two of the top-rated activities, one in five (18%) of grandparents wanted to take their grandchildren to swim with dolphins.

Niall Palmer, Senior Product Manager at Saga Travel Insurance commented: “It is great to see so many grandparents making the most of the holiday season and taking their grandchildren away with them. With our members saying that holidays with their grandchildren has significantly improved their relationships with one another, and also kept them more active, we expect to see more families considering a skip-gen holiday in the future.

“Memories from family holidays are ones we never forget – no matter how bad the weather or the traffic, these are the memories we treasure forever. To help in creating these memories and to ensure everyone is suitably covered in the event of the unexpected, Saga Travel Insurance is offering free travel insurance for grandchildren travelling with grandparents for the rest of this year.”