Staycations, Sun & Socks: How Cornwall Plans to Holiday in 2025

Between 4^th-10^th June 2025, we asked members of What Cornwall Thinks about their holiday plans for the year.

One in five Cornish residents will be holidaying within Cornwall & IoS this year

Two in five (40%) will be taking UK-only holidays in 2025, with nearly half of those (18% of total) planning to holiday (away from home but) within the bounds of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

A third (36%) will be taking at least one holiday abroad this year.

The remainder will either not be going anywhere on holiday (15%) or haven’t decided yet (9%).

“Staycations” are popular too (staying at home but doing “holiday things”), with 68% of those planning on taking a holiday away from home planning on doing this too.  The most popular stay-at-home activities are:

🏖️ Going to the beach

🚶 Going on walks

🎨 Spending time on hobbies and interests

🍽️ Going to restaurants

Holiday “types”

 

Three quarters of Cornish residents (73%) plan short breaks at least a month in advance and two thirds (67%) plan their main holiday of the year at least three months in advance.

Only a quarter (28%) say they never overpack for a holiday, and use everything they take with them.  Most (64%) say they overpack “just in case” clothes (most typically: extra socks and underwear) but nearly a quarter say they also overpack books (23%) and/or medicines (22%).

And what do most do when first arriving at their holiday accommodation?  For most it is a toss up between checking out the view, getting straight on with the unpacking, or popping the kettle on!

Sometimes fellow holiday makers can make a great holiday even better, but sometimes a few can be quite annoying!  Asked what habits of other holiday makers are most likely to irritate, and it was drunken behaviour or littering that came top of that list.

Life after Covid

Two thirds (66%) say that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed how they think about their leisure time in ways that they uphold to this day, primarily in trying to spend more time enjoying the coast and the natural world, or spending more time outdoors doing relaxing/gentle activities.  One in four (25%) now, as a result of the pandemic experience, try to carve out more time for themselves, to enjoy their solitude, whilst 1 in 5 (19%) try to take part more in sports or other physical outdoor activities.

Sustainable holidaying

Many like to make holiday choices that are good for the planet.  Half (54%) don’t want to have to think about whether they are being environmentally friendly or not whilst on holiday, which isn’t to say they haven’t made environmental choices beforehand, whilst booking; a third (30%) say they will only choose hotels that demonstrate clear environmental credentials and a proactive.  However 10% are willing to admit that they don’t factor a business’ environmental credentials into their holiday choices at all.

Two in five (41%) say they would be minded to make a complaint if they felt a holiday venue was being wasteful and irresponsible concerning the environment.

Cornwall as a holiday destination

Cornwall has many amazing qualities, for residents and holiday makers alike, and trying to limit an answer to just one thing that most makes it a special place to visit seems an unreasonable ask! However, the residents we spoke to were very clear, saying it is Cornwall’s beautiful coastline and beaches.  In fact, if residents could ask visitors to bear in mind only one rule whilst here, the most popular rule would be: respect the Cornish beaches, countryside and wildlife on your visit.

But whilst three quarters (75%) are proud of Cornwall as a holiday destination, 1 in 5 (20%) have mixed feelings about holiday makers coming here.

Over half of residents (55%) would support a small tourist tax if it helps the local area.  Another 13% would support during peak season only.  Only 10% would oppose it, either because they think it would put visitors off and damage the tourist trade or because they don’t believe any money raised would end up benefitting local people.  The most popular areas for money raised from tourism to be directed would be to:

🏠 Building affordable homes;

🏥 Improving public services like health and schools;

🚌 Fixing roads and helping transport.