I suspect many recipients of today's briefing will respond
with an automatic 'out of office' reply. August is
traditionally the month when many British pack their bags and take
a break.
In the spirit of the season, this week's briefing is on
holidays.
For most of us, summer holidays mean trips abroad as foreign
travel has become much more ubiquitous. Technological advances,
deregulation and fierce competition mean that air travel has become
significantly cheaper since the 1970s, making travelling abroad a
much more common activity. In the United States, the cost of flying
fell 50% between 1978 and 2011.
With travel getting cheaper, the number of people taking trips
abroad almost doubled in the UK through the 1980s, and has grown
strongly since (except for a temporary dip following the financial
crisis). The number of annual trips taken abroad by Brits has more
than tripled between 1980 and 2014 to 38.5 million foreign
holidays.
