‘Holiday mentality’ leaves people spending £250 more on extras while away

The average holidaymaker spends £250 more on “extras” during a one-week getaway than when they are at home, a survey has indicated.

Dining out, live events, clothes and transport are among the items people are more inclined to splash out on, according to HSBC UK.

The research also indicated that people do not like talking about spending splurges.

More than half (57%) of people said they never disclose how much they have spent on holiday.

Jo Hemmings, a behavioural psychologist, said: “Our holiday mentality which encourages us to spend much more than we would at home is down to three main factors.

“Simply being out of our usual daily routine contributes to a sense of relaxation and reward, stimulating our feel-good hormones of serotonin and dopamine and reducing our stress hormone, cortisol, making us more likely to spend money on clothes, dining out and new experiences.

“Holidays are also associated with special occasions and escapism – whether that’s a birthday or an anniversary, the arrival of warm weather or simply the holiday itself which we have anticipated and saved for, enables us to justify spending more money than usual.

“We are also less inhibited on holiday, so we feel less constrained by our usual financial mindsets and the sense of spending more on immediate pleasures rather than deferred rewards – known as temporal discounting – is also heightened.”

HSBC UK’s head of everyday banking, Pella Frost, said: “We all like to splash out on holiday but splurge regret can cast a shadow over the whole experience.”

Censuswide surveyed more than 2,000 people for HSBC UK in June.