Pensioners ‘spending their children’s inheritance to go on more holidays’

Older people are spending their money to go on more holidays rather than leaving it to their children or losing it to inheritance tax, a senior figure in the travel industry has said.

Recently-released data from Abta, the UK’s largest travel trade association shows that 82 per cent of over-65s had been on holiday in the past 12 months, a rise of five percentage points from two years ago.

The number of over-65s holidaying abroad has risen to 55 per cent, which represents a percentage point increase from two years ago.

Mark Tanzer, Abta’s chief executive, told The Times that the spike could be attributed to a willingness to spend money which could have become inheritance for their children.

“I think that generation is probably fitter than it used to be; your mortgage is paid off, you are starting your pension, you are actually quite cash rich compared to a young family starting out,” he told the newspaper.

“I think they have got more disposable income and they want to have experiences, there may be a bit of them thinking, ‘I just don’t want to leave this to my kids’, but they certainly don’t want to leave it to the taxman. I think there’s that sense of ‘well if I don’t spend it, it will just go to inheritance tax’.”

According to The Times, this idea is known as ski-ing, meaning “spending the kids’ inheritance”.

Spain was the most popular overseas destination for the age group with 43 per cent visiting the country. The US and Turkey were also popular, with city breaks and beach holidays regular choices among over-65s.

However, Abta’s report, called Holiday Habits, found that holidays remain a spending priority among the British people and fewer people are looking to cut back on them over other non-essentials such as dining out, buying clothes or other leisure activities.

Its data suggested that there was a bit more caution when it came to holiday spending due to the increased cost of living.

Holidays remain far down the list in terms of what people are willing to cut back on, but the gap between them and other areas of spending has tightened.

Abta’s polling showed 23 per cent of people would cut back spending on UK holidays, while 32 per cent would look to cut back on holidays abroad.

In his forward to the report on the data, Mr Tanzer wrote: “Behind the headline figures, it has been a tough year for the travel industry.

“The conflict in the Middle East shook the sector, not just in terms of the initial disruption to travel, but also the ripple effects of changes to fuel supply and prices.

“How we travel to and through the Middle East has changed and there does not appear to be an immediate resolution of the disruption on the horizon.

He added: “Perhaps, though, it is the cost of living – more than anything – that has been the constant challenge shaping customer behaviour. While people do continue to spend on travel, they are leaving it much later to departure before committing to their holiday. It is a pattern that is becoming regular for travel businesses, adding increased pressure and unpredictability.”