Expedia Reports Consumers Limit Vacations Due to Work Stress

Published on: April 16, 2009

Expedia.com has announced the results of its ninth annual Vacation Deprivation survey, revealing that 49.4 million Americans (approximately 34 percent of employed U.S. adults), citing work-related pressure as a contributing factor, will not use all of their earned vacation days in 2009. Again this year, Americans will give back an average of three vacation days each. Even though a vast majority (89 percent) of employed U.S. adults believes they are entitled to all earned vacation days, the number of workers who will not use all of those earned days increased from 31 percent in 2008 to 34 percent in 2009. Additionally, the 2009 Expedia Vacation Deprivation survey revealed that Americans continue to receive fewer vacation days than their international counterparts.

Although Americans see value in taking vacation time, fewer this year said that they feel better about their job and more productive upon returning from vacation than last year (34 percent in 2009 versus 39 percent in 2008). Additionally, nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) admitted they have trouble coping with stress from work during the vacation cycle. As work responsibilities continue to deter workers from taking time off, fewer Americans felt that their employer encourages them to use all earned vacation days (61 percent in 2009 versus 67 percent in 2008). Workers are also taking fewer extended vacations, with the number of adults who plan to take a two-week vacation declining from 14 percent in 2008 to 10 percent in 2009. Another potential sign of the times, 8 percent of adults included the possibility of missing an important meeting or an important decision at work as a potential reason for not using all vacation days, up from just 5 percent who cited that reason last year.

On average, Americans reported receiving 13 vacation days in 2009, one day less than the previous three years. Women are more likely than men to feel guilty about taking time off from work (40 percent of women versus 29 percent of men). Approximately 39 percent of working Americans plan on using the majority of their vacation time in 2009 by taking at least one full week of vacation and spreading out remaining days. More than half (58 percent) of Americans plan to travel by car in 2009, while 30 percent plan to travel by plane.

In addition to looking at the U.S., the 2009 Expedia Vacation Deprivation survey polled the vacation habits of employed workers in Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Australia, Japan and, for the first time, New Zealand. This year, workers in Canada, France and Australia will receive between one and two more vacation days than in 2008, while all other countries will either receive fewer vacation days or see no change in earned time off. Employed adults in France will receive and take the most vacation days of all countries surveyed, with workers receiving 38 days and leaving only two days unused. Even though working Americans receive the smallest number of vacation days, workers in Japan leave are the least vacation-minded, as 92 percent of workers said they would not use all vacation days and will leave an average of seven days on the table. For more information, visit www.vacationdeprivation.com.