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Expedia, one of the prominent online travel agency, has announced its Vacation Deprivation Study for 2012. The company releases this report every year. The data is obtained by carrying out detailed polls across the many countries that Expedia operates in. This year’s polls had 8687 employed participants spanning 22 countries. This year however, didn’t look that great for India, as our country climbed up one rank to become the 4th most vacation deprived country in the world, the first being Japan. Japan has held its number one spot for sometime now.
The vacation deprivation is not limited to India alone but is witnessed to a large extent in other Asian countries too. Europeans are the least deprived as they have 25-30 vacation days per year on an average. Contrasting this to Asian countries like Korea and Taiwan which have a median number of 10 days a year will give you a fair amount of the deprivation present in Asia. The number of vacation days available/taken by Indians has dropped down 5 days this year to 20 days as compared to last year’s report. This shows that a large number of Indians are dropping holiday plans to focus on work. Maybe it is due to their dedication to their work or because there is option where the job is concerned. The last option is not a good thing and can lead to job-related pressure which can affect the mental balance of an individual and thus lead to a lot of stress.
The report suggests that Indians might be losing out on their vacation days because they can’t co-ordinate and plan them properly. 37% of the Indian polled wanted to accumulate as many vacation days as possible while 31% of them could not co-ordinate their vacation trips properly. The remaining 23% couldn’t plan their vacations well, thus ending up with lost vacation days. Another reason the report throws up is that most Indians are afraid that company and work decisions will be taken in their absence. This amounts to 22%, which is a global high. Indians also cancel vacation due to last minute work assignments. The percentage of vacation cancellations due to work is 60% behind Taiwan (72%) and Korea (67%).
The report suggests that work has interfered with almost 50% of employees in Asia and Latin America. Both of these regions are emerging markets and I am sure that it has something to do with that although I cannot put my finger on it. 76% of Indian bosses approve of employee vacation requests, which is 4% improvement since last year. Even if this may be the case, the vacation deprivation among Indian employees has increased. This might have something to do with the monetary aspect or dedication to work. The report also points out that Indians (especially South Indians) cannot let go of work even while they are vacation. The country has the highest number (55%) of people checking in during vacations. Maybe this is because of the ‘decisions taken beyond their back’ thing or maybe Indians are way too dedicated to their jobs.
The report also provides a various parameters (destination, seasons) which Indians prefer. We seem to prefer a balance between Beaches (32%) and Romantic destinations(33%). Indians prefer to travel almost equally during the summer and the winter. 48% of the Indian participants said that they would travel during the summers. Indian travelers are more likely to travel with friend than other countries. The percentage of these people stands at 41% while those Indians who would prefer travelling with family stands at 58%.
So, that is a lot of data saying that we don’t get out there and travel enough! What we need to do is plan out travel properly and let go during our vacation days. These days are important for you to recharge your batteries. Once refreshed you can tackle work situations better when you return. Taking work with you vacation can only increase your stress levels which is not a good thing.
You can check the detailed infographic here
Image Source | Deccan Chronicle & HealthMeUp
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2012-12-06 12:41:23
Source: http://www.watblog.com/2012/12/06/india-is-the-4th-most-vacation-deprived-country-expedia-study/