How fintech helps Romanians to plan longer holidays and better prepare the budgets for vacation
- Most of the respondents want to spend the summer holidays locally, probably to prevent unforeseen situations they faced in the last 2 vacations, during COVID-19 pandemics. 26% of Romanians intending to travel abroad, in the general population, and the intention rises at 33% amongst the fintech users.
- Romanians intended to allocate an average of 2,894 RON (EUR 586) budget per vacation, but they under-estimated this amount by almost 30%.
- 39% of the budget would be allotted to accommodation, 27% to meals, while the rest of the amount will be spent on transportation (17%) and entertainment (17%)
- Fintech users are slightly more comfortable to use the money earned from the salary for the upcoming holiday (38%) vs. non-users (35%) due to the fact that they have higher incomes than the rest of the population
Bucharest, July 11, 2022 – Revolut wanted to find out what are Romanians’ plans in budgeting and spending for one of the most awaited times of the year – the summer holidays – and the main specificities of fintech users, when it comes to preparing the annual leave.
Traveling abroad regain popularity among Romanians and especially more in case of fintech users
The latest survey solicited by Revolut and conducted by Reveal Marketing Research showed that in 2022, 71% of Romanians intend to choose local/domestic destinations for summer holidays, probably to prevent unforeseen situations they faced in the last 2 vacations, during COVID-19 pandemics. 26% have mentioned their intentions to travel abroad and 11% have not planned yet their days off this year. Taking a closer look there are 7% of Romanians who intend to enjoy both Romania and another country this summer.
Fintech users manifested to a significantly greater extent the intention to spend their holidays abroad (33%) and to enjoy both domestic and foreign destinations this summer (10%).
When it comes to how many days they plan to spend on summer vacation, 6 out of 10 Romanians mentioned an average period up to 1 week. The duration of the holiday increases among fintech users who tend to take longer than 9 days of holiday (31%), compared to non-users (21%).
People prefer to go on vacations and create new memories along with their friends or family members (77%). In this respect, fintech users are more likely to spend the summer holidays with more than 4 people (34.5%), while 76% of non-users will spend their time off with 3 people at most.
Budget planning and expenses management
Even though Romanians intend to allocate an average of 2,894 RON/ EUR 586 budget per vacation, at a closer look it could be observed that most respondents tend to under-estimate the amount they will spend on a holiday. The overall amount they declared is lower than the budget elements (accommodation, transport, meals, entertainment) added together by almost 30% (3651 RON/ EUR 739).
Overall, 39% of the budget will go towards accommodation, 27% towards meals while the rest of the amount will be spent on transportation (17%) and entertainment (17%).
Respondents aged 18-24 are better planners being the only category that accurately estimated the amount of money they will spend. They also prefer to spend significantly more on entertainment activities than the rest of the sample, with up to 26%.
Fintech users are more financially relaxed
Generally, Romanians prefer to plan and budget ahead of time their next holiday. According to the survey, most of the respondents intend to book their summer holidays online (47%) on Profile websites like Booking, Airbnb or other digital solutions built in-app, like Revolut Stays. These tools are preferred at a significantly greater extent by fintech users (52%) vs. non-users (42%).
Regarding the means through which the funds needed for the holiday are acquired, the most common behaviors of respondents are to save money in time (73%) or to use money from the monthly salary (36%).
The data show that fintech users are slightly more comfortable to use the money from salary for the upcoming holiday (38%) vs. non-users (35%) and also, are more opened towards modern financial solutions like credits/ loans for holidays (9%) in comparison with non-users (4.5%).
Since the current economical context is unpredictable, 43% of respondents believe that inflation will affect their holiday plans to a large extent. In this regard, the fintech users are less concerned by the inflation rise and its impact on their holidays budgets (28%) compared to non-users (22%).
Getting to know the fintech user profile
Fintech users differentiate themselves through their inclination to use digital money management solutions, including for making investments. They also believe children should have access to a card before the age of 14. Demographically they are rather under the age of 45, male to a higher extent, either married or in a civil partnership and have higher earning jobs than non-users (business owner, manager or expert – higher education jobs).
Gabriela Simion, General Manager for Revolut Branch in Romania said:
We are pleased to witnesshowRevolut contributed, through its features and functionalities, to the creation of a new consumer profile, in the financial industry environment. Our customers are digitally driven travelers and experience seekers. They love the freedom of spending their time off in the company of others, to broaden their horizon, to discover new places, new people, different cultures and environments. And they do this without any concern related to money, be it cash or physical, to a card in multiple currencies or to high foreign exchange rates, or to their accommodation, their bills at restaurants or their flight schedule. They are aware of the wide range of services that Revolut offers and they always rely on technology and on the well tested features available in our financial super-app to prepare in detail their holidays. There is no reason to wonder that Revolut has such a wide and loyal community in Romania, counting over 2 million customers”.
Marius Luican, CEO Reveal Marketing Research commented:
Fintech users are in a continuous search of evolution, development, flexibility and freedom. Modern and digital financial solutions make them feel updated and in control while constantly improving the quality of their lives. We can refer to them as Explorers who are actively searching for development in both personal and professional spheres of life, fintech being a tool in order to achieve it. We have also noticed that they have a trendsetter behavior, they travel more abroad, they seek new experiences and are more informed regarding the newest ways of managing finances.
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About Reveal Marketing Research
Reveal Marketing Research is a full-service market research company, specialized in market research, sociological studies, customer insight, business strategy, market development. With expertise in over 20 industries, Reveal Marketing Research believes that market research is the basis for the right decisions and brand positioning. Qualitative and quantitative solutions have been helping companies in Romania and Europe for 14 years.
Methodology: The Reveal Marketing Research study was conducted online between 24-28.06.2022 on a representative sample for the universe of people aged 18+, internet users. The sample size was 1,256 respondents, and the maximum sampling error for the general target is +/- 2.8% at a 95% confidence level.