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Revolut: Over a third of Romanians will not travel for Christmas; 76% claim that they have money for all gifts
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6 Europeans out of 10 Europeans prefer to wait for Santa at home, close to the family, instead of traveling to visit their friends, and relatives or discovering new places. 36% of Romanians will certainly not travel on holidays
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4 Europeans out of 10 and, respectively, 5 Romanians in 10 consider spending less than 250 EUR for Christmas (gifts, food, or travel)
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In 2022, Europeans would prefer practical gifts for Christmas (31%) instead of expensive presents and experiences. Romanians are even more practical than the rest of the Europeans (33%)
Europeans have already started the preparations to celebrate one of the most austere and restrained Christmas holidays in recent years, while the continent is facing rising inflation and economists expect to see the economy stagnating in 2023.
Revolut, the financial super-app with 25 million customers globally and over 2.5 million in Romania, wanted to find out what are Europeans’ plans in budgeting and spending for one of the most awaited times of the year – the winter holidays, through a survey conducted by Dynata in 7(10) countries, taken by 7,027 respondents, of which 1,000 in our country.
These results are part of a larger international survey with over 10,000 participants from 10 countries worldwide, which Dynata conducted on behalf of Revolut in October 2022. Sampling frames are based on gender, age, country / region / state.
All I want for Christmas is: to stay home or visit friends and family?
European consumers are ready to welcome a Christmas celebration with pragmatism and practical decisions, as they are oscillating between two opposite trends – decreasing of their purchase power and the desire to seize the day, in the ”new normality” post-pandemics. This year, for sure, Christmas is going to be more about being present than about presents, as Revolut and Dynata data showed.
6 Europeans out of 10 Europeans prefer to wait for Santa at home, close to the family, instead of travelling to visit their friends, and relatives or discovering new places. The preference for travelling on Christmas seems to be more of an age-related preference (14% in the 25-34 y.o. segment) or a cultural trend.
Respondents from Romania, Italy, and France confirmed their intention to book a trip for Christmas or travel to visit friends and family on this holiday to a higher extent than the ones in the UK, Poland, Germany, or Lithuania. By far, the Romanians (64%) are the Europeans with the highest mobility for this event, unlike Lithuanians (with 31% responses favourable to booking or planning a trip).
In the case of an average Romanian customer, travel was the category with the highest amount spent in December 2021 (193 EUR average amount per Revolut customer), even though COVID-19 restrictions were in place in most of the countries.
The other two budget categories that recorded an important average amount spent per customer were entertainment (186 EUR per customer) and general purchases (156 EUR per customer).
Limited budget or limitless gifting for Christmas?
When it comes to money and the Christmas budget, most Europeans share their concerns about the increasing costs to celebrate this important holiday. 6 Europeans out of 10 intend to shop around to stay within the budget, while 25% of the respondents saved money for the gifting season. Young people also prefer to save (34% of 18-24 y.o.) and also consider handmade gifts (16%) at a higher extent compared to the more mature segments of the population.
Revolut customers have also put money aside into dedicated Vaults for savings, according to the names they gave to the funds saved in-app. 42% of the personalised Vaults created by Romanian customers have been named ”Savings”, 9% – ”Holidays” and over 3% – ”Gifts/ presents/ Christmas”. Romanians had more than 657,000 Vaults created in-app to put money aside for different goals, some with a clear and dedicated purpose.
Germans (23.50%) and Poles (23.20%) adopt more of a Scrooge attitude this year, considering it is not the time for a celebration, as they cannot afford it. 14.50% of the European sample declared that Christmas 2022 might be ”cancelled” due to financial obstacles.
But, the general vibe is saved by the respondents in France (17.1%), Italy (15.6%) and the UK (15.2%) which are more relaxed and take into account personal loans, credit cards or Buy Now Pay Later instalments to finance their plans for winter holidays.
To lower their expenses, Italians (14.9%) and younger consumers (18-24 y.o, 15.70%) think of offering handmade gifts, while the same Italians (16.70%) and the seniors (65+, 14.60%) take into account vouchers for Christmas presents.
According to the Revolut & Dynata survey, 4 Europeans out of 10 intend to spend less than 250 EUR for Christmas (gifts, food, or travel). On the other hand, the same number of customers (4 out of 10) would intend to spend more than 250 EUR on this occasion.
Although, 9% of the respondents stated they do not want to spend at all (not even a penny!). French respondents were the most indulgent, with 8% of the respondents saying that they intend to spend over 1,000 EUR on food, gifts, and travel for Christmas and New Year’s Eve travel. By contrast, Lithuanians are the most refrained, with 60% of respondents in this country planning to spend less than 250 EUR on this occasion.
Although they have one of the lowest incomes in Europe, Romanians are against the idea of not properly celebrating Christmas. Only 6% of respondents in this market indicated that they do not intend to make purchases for this celebration, while 43.4% expect to spend between 250-1,000 EUR and 3% over 1,000 EUR.
The Romanians in the West of the country are the tightest this year. 57% declare that they will spend less than 250 euros on holidays and completely exclude the openness to spend more than 1,000 euros for this time of the year.
Romanians in the centre of the country (6%) and in the Capital (5%) are at the opposite pole and are preparing for expenses that will be between 1,000 and 1,500 euros.
The most affected by the price increase appear to be consumers in the South-West and South-East, who said they did not plan to spend at all for the holidays (9% and 8%, respectively, both percentages higher than the national average) .
Looking at the internal data, in December 2021, a Revolut customer in Romania spent 340 EUR on average. So, we could expect to see the general spending rising, not only due to the price increase but also as a consequence of the last-minute decision to buy gifts or change plans.
Also, the intention of spending decreases while the age is advancing. The highest percentage of the response ”none” (no amount planned for spending on food, gifts or travelling for Christmas) is amongst the categories 45-54 y.o. (9%), 55-64 y.o. (13%), 65+ y.o. (14%). In the same time, the highest amounts planned for Christmas expenditures is recorded for the age category 45-54 y.o, 4.5% of the respondents in these segments saying they intend to spend over 1.000 EUR.
In Romania, the majority of the consumers in the 25-34 y.o. segment expect to spend on average 250-500 euros (40%) or 500-1,000 euros (15%), those aged 55-64 less than 250 euros ( 60%), while the highest amounts, over 1,000 euros, are found mainly in the 18-24 age group (5% of this category of consumers).
Sustainable gifts and social inclusion for disadvantaged groups
According to the Revolut & Dynata survey, Europeans would prefer practical gifts (31%) instead of expensive presents and experiences for Christmas or from the wishlist (17%) and the trend is also noticed amongst Romanians (33%). The women still expect to get nice things or treats that they would not buy otherwise (19.4%). The men find it difficult to decide what they want to find under the Christmas tree (18.8%, second most selected choice, after the practical gifts).
Also, the GenZ’ers (21%) and Brits (22.5%) have higher expectations related to receiving more ”special” gifts (21%) like nice things and treats than the other categories. Most practical among all Europeans are the Poles (39% would like to receive a practical gift) and the age category 25-34 (38.5%).
Romanians seem to be the Europeans that would appreciate any kind of gift as long as it is … offered (25%).
As the respondents’ age increases, the concern for the desired gifts decreases, and the answers “I don’t know” become more numerous among seniors (over 55 y.o., 22.6%).