16th February 2005
Millions of British employees are rejecting the confinement of their yearly holiday allocation by taking career breaks to go travelling.
Research by Direct Line Travel Insurance, identified that sabbaticals are no longer just a luxury for gap-year students, as *6.2 million professionals have left their day jobs for months at a time to see the wonders of the world. And the trend is set to continue as more than three quarters (76 per cent) said they would consider taking time off.
Regionally, northerners are most likely to ditch their desks in search of an easier life, with 81 per cent looking forward to taking a lengthy break, compared to 78 per cent of Londoners and 77 per cent of Scots.
The most common workers to catch the 'travel bug' are media and advertising gurus, with a quarter having swapped champagne soirées for treks through Tibet, followed by nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of travel and tourism professionals and 16 per cent of Aerospace engineers.
Least likely to get itchy feet are construction workers, (3 per cent) and employees in Education, IT and Medical industries all at six per cent.
Topping the most popular destination for a career break is Australia and New Zealand with two thirds (66 per cent) going half way round the world to get away from the stress of every day life, followed by Europe (48 per cent) and USA (43 per cent).
Chris Price, Business Manager at Direct Line Travel Insurance said:
"Taking a sabbatical to travel the world is a great way to recharge the batteries and prioritise the important things in life. Many companies are now supporting their employees and giving them two to three months off to travel the world. We have seen a dramatic increase in sales of our Discovery 'gap-year' travel insurance, covering travellers for a variety of activities – from camel trekking and canoeing to snorkelling and surfing."
The top five 'career sabbatical' destinations:
1. USA
2. Western Europe (e.g. France, Spain, Italy etc)
3. Eastern Europe (e.g. Slovenia, Czech Republic, Russia)
4. Africa
5. South-east Asia (e.g. Thailand, Vietnam)
-ends-
Carmel McCarthy
Direct Line Press Office
Tel: 0845 8782178
Email: Carmel.McCarthy@Directline.com
Notes to editors:
Research was carried out in December 2004 by YouGov who questioned a representative sample of 2015 people.
*Assuming the current UK population of persons aged 16 and over is 47,841,400 (The Office of National Statistics 2003/2004) and that 13% of the respondents have taken a career break to go travelling - 47,841,400 divided by 100 and multiplied by 13 = 6.2 million people.
Direct Line Insurance plc, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Calls may be recorded. Conditions apply.
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