September stays: with kids back at school, Hotels.com found that adult searches for trips in September are up 1,170% compared to families.

No time for noise: more serene environment, not wanting to hear kids play and not having to be quiet by a certain are the top reasons for adult-only stays. 

DINK destinations: Double Income No Kids (DINKs) travellers are flocking to London, Edinburgh, York, Paris and Manchester this September.  

Hotels.com has found that DINKs up their travel game in autumn, with adult searches up a whopping 1,170%¹ compared to families in September. Peace and quiet (48%)², more cost-effective trips (48%) and less busy stays (46%) were just some of the top reasons DINKs cited for autumn travel. Almost three quarters of adults want to channel their inner child (73%) saying they travel at this time so they can use all the amenities that kids usually take over such as water slides and cinema rooms. 

Over half (56%) say a more serene environment is the reason they like to stay at hotels without kids. This is followed by, not wanting to hear kids play all day (39%) and not having to be quiet by a certain time (28%). 57% have even looked at adult-only hotels in the past 12months, ensuring their perfect somewhere is as relaxing as possible.  

DINKs aren’t messing around, with the average autumn break lasting seven days. It’s all about major cities for their September trips with the following coming in as the most searched for by adults³:  

1. London  

2. Edinburgh  

3. York  

4. Paris  

5. Manchester  

6. New York  

7. Barcelona  

8. Blackpool  

9. Amsterdam  

10. Liverpool  

Whilst adults are enjoying a mix of domestic (60%) and abroad (40%) stays during autumn, families are the ones branching further afield with 50% of the most popular destinations during their peak season (August) being international hotspots. Paris, Barcelona, Dubai, Orlando and Majorca all made it into the top 10 destinations for family summer holidays.  

DINKs are all about living in the now, with 64%² admitting that they haven’t had kids/haven’t had kids yet because they enjoy having more disposable income to spend on things they enjoy. 41% even believe that people put off having kids specifically so they can enjoy amazing holidays. For almost half (42%), this extra cash goes on travel, whether that is a luxurious hotel stay, a spa weekend or a road trip. 

¹Hotels.com search data from 1^st January 2023 – 1st August 2023 for stays from 1^st September 2023 – 30^th September 2023, comparing stays for 2 adults vs stays for 2 adults with 1 child, 2 adults with 2 children and 2 adults with 3 children  

²Research data conducted from 11^th – 14^th August 2023 on 1,000 UK respondents who have a double income and no kids (both people in couple earning)  

³ Hotels.com destination search data from 1^st January 2023 – 1st August 2023 for: 2 adults for stays from 1^st September 2023 – 30^th September 2023, vs stays for 2 adults with 1 child, 2 adults with 2 children and 2 adults with 3 children for stays from 1^st  August 2023 – 31^st August 2023