Study: People in the UK expect to celebrate Christmas with fewer people

London, 1st December 2020, 63% of people in the UK expect to celebrate Christmas with fewer people this year. The study by DVJ Insights was held among 1,500 people from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. 37% expects to celebrate Christmas and New Year with two to three people. In the Netherlands, this percentage is even higher with 45%. Despite this, only 20% of people in the UK think the upcoming holiday season will look the same as previous years, less than in the Netherlands (28%) and Germany (37%).

70% of UK citizens will stay home as much as possible because of corona, 64% has not made any plans, whilst 42% even dread the holiday season this year. The Netherlands shows similar numbers, whilst people in Germany seem to be a lot more optimistic about Christmas with percentages being much lower.

Concern and measures

General concern about the coronavirus has remained high at 84%, during the last measurement in June, the overall concern was at 83%, much higher than the level of concern in the Netherlands and Germany, where concern peaked again this month. In the UK, this appears in part due to the lower level of confidence in the measures government had been taking.

With the announcement of a second formal lockdown, 35% of people in the UK are more worried than two weeks before, 16% are less worried than the first week of November, whilst 48% are just as worried. People in Germany are again more positive and less worried than people in the UK and the Netherlands. In response to the question which country has the best corona strategy, people in the Netherlands named their own country most. In the UK, people look positively at New Zealand, whilst people in Germany appreciate Sweden’s strategy most. Something all countries agree on is that the USA has the worst corona strategy.

Figure 1 Which country has the best corona strategy?

Holiday and travel

In the UK, the acceptance of ‘staying put’ has meant that 40% of people in the UK have cancelled their holiday or is intending to do so. In Germany, numbers are much lower, with just 14% cancelling this year’s trip.

The attitude towards travel has also changed in recent months. 80% of people in the UK think they should close their borders for foreign tourists, followed by the Netherlands and Germany with 75% and 67% respectively. 67% of people in the UK think tourist attractions should be closed. Yet, a small part of the population has not given up hope and trusts there will be improvements.

Back to ‘normal’

The study also focused on when people expect things to go back to normal. The majority thinks this will be around the end of spring/ summer of 2021. The months May, June, and July are mentioned the most, by both people in the UK and the Netherlands. Remarkably, people in Germany are again a lot more positive and expect things to return to normal quite quickly in 2021, which seems to reflect where people think the country is on the ‘timeline’ at dealing with the pandemic.

The full report of the study can be requested here.