Many families will make the most of the school summer holidays by embarking on trips to all sorts of locations, spending large amounts of money as they go.
Kantar Media’s TGI survey reveals who the most lucrative holiday makers are and how marketers can best reach them.
Newly released insight from TGI reveals primary and secondary school parents (people living with children, with the youngest aged 5-9 and 10-15 respectively) are the lifestages consistently more likely to spend more on their holidays compared to the average holiday-maker.
Both groups are almost a third more likely to spend over £2,500 on their holiday.
The TGI lifestage empty nesters group (55+, living as a couple and do not live with their children) are also big spenders, being close to 40% more likely than the average holiday-maker to spend over £2,500.
Although just as lucrative for marketers to tap into, empty nesters - without young children at home - tend not to take their holidays in the summer; instead they are most likely to venture off in September and March.
Primary and secondary school parents, however, are most likely to holiday in July and August.
So when it comes to courting the summer holiday market, people with kids are the most profitable target for marketers.
While on the face of it, primary and secondary school parents may seem to be similar groups, they have quite different holiday preferences.
Primary school parents are 37% more likely than the average holiday maker to prefer holidays in Britain, with East Anglia the most popular choice.
Such a decision may be down to financial concerns or wanting to stay closer to home with younger children.
Secondary school parents are almost a quarter more likely than the average holiday maker to go abroad for their holidays and are almost twice as likely to choose Florida.
Primary school parents tend to plan their holidays well in advance, being over 50% more likely to book at least six months ahead.
Secondary school parents tend to plan a little closer to their holiday, being significantly more likely to book their holidays four to five months in advance.
A subtle difference perhaps, but one that could save a canny marketer a small fortune by not wasting any targeting.
Attitudinally, secondary school parents are more work-orientated.
They are almost a third more likely than the average holiday maker to admit they only go to work for the money and are more likely to worry about work during their leisure time.
Primary school parents are more family orientated, being more likely to care about home decorations and spend more on food.
They are also more likely to make lifestyle changes to adapt to their busy lives, being 41% more likely than the average holiday maker to snack while on the move, and almost a third more likely to eat take-away meals.
These sets of parents share similarities too. Both are particularly likely to go on holiday for the same reasons - to eat, drink and lie in the sun.
So in terms of reaching these holiday makers in the most efficient way, primary school parents are significantly more likely to be among the heaviest fifth of cinema goers.
They are over four times as likely as the average holiday maker to have seen a children’s film in the last three months.
This perhaps helps explain why both groups are significantly more likely to prefer watching films in 3D, giving an indication of the kind of pester power marketers can tap into.
TGI data reveals a different story for secondary school parents.
They are close to a third more likely to be heavy listeners of the radio (more than 28 hours a week).
They are also over a quarter more likely than the average holiday maker to pay most attention to adverts on the radio.
In terms of listening preferences, they like to listen to education, beauty and food shows.
It is clear that to effectively exploit the summer holiday market and these two lucrative groups of families, marketers need to target them differently for maximum impact.
Although on the surface primary and secondary school parents might seem similar, understanding their differing holiday preferences, attitudes and media habits builds a very different picture of each group.