Travel agency of mum and dad continues long after children grow up - survey

The trend of parents paying to take their grown up offspring on holiday extends to sons and daughters in their fifties, a new survey suggests.

Almost one in five (19%) adults aged 45-54 have been on a break with their parents or in-laws in the last year and more than three quarters (76%) say the older relatives contributed to some or all of the cost, research for Enterprise Rent-A-Car found.

The vast majority of British adults who have been on holiday with their parents or in-laws said they would do so again (90%), although 58% said it was not something they would do for every break.

Some 71% of people aged 18-24 have been away with their parents over the past 12 months, with parents helping to cover costs in 83% of trips.

The survey of 2,269 UK adults revealed some of the downsides of travelling with parents.

Of those who have been on such a trip, four in five (80%) reported at least one disadvantage with the most common being a lack of privacy (34%), followed by difficulties in catering for all tastes (28%) and managing relationships in the group (26%).

Brendan Grieve, an assistant vice president at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: "It's incredible just how many British adults go on holiday with parents who cover all or part of the costs.

"Anyone with young children may be surprised that the 'travel agency of mum and dad' continues long after children have grown up."