In recent years the popularity of taking a holiday that includes an active element such as cycling, hiking or watersports has been growing. Online searches for terms such as ‘activity holidays’ and ‘sport holidays’ are on the increase but what is behind this growth in popularity?

Our new research shows that it’s predominantly a younger audience who are driving this trend.We asked 2,000 people in the UK whether they would choose a relaxed ‘tried and tested’ holiday with minimum activities or an active holiday with lots of activities – one in three millennials (aged 16-34) said they would choose an active holiday compared to less than one in ten (7.9%) baby boomers (aged 55+)

Search data available from Google supports our survey findings. 40% of all searches for activity holiday-related terms are performed by those aged under 35 whilst 18-24 year olds are 41% more likely than the average person to be searching for activity holidays online.

Why though are millennials so drawn to active holidays?We asked Pip Tyler, our Overseas Director who has over 30 years’ experience in the travel industry to explain.