"We want to reach people those that don’t go on holiday, the ones the travel industry doesn’t talk to very often – we don’t really know very much about them," Lee tells TTG, speaking exclusively after revealing the findings of the charity’s England for Everyone project this week.

The FHC’s mission is to provide underprivileged families much-needed breaks; it has worked with VisitEngland and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on England for Everyone, culminating in a 94-page blueprint that Lee and her team hope will make thousands of families’ lives that little bit better and brighter.

Besides assessing “the real barriers” preventing UK families from taking holidays, the report also seeks to highlight how travel businesses can better meet the needs of these consumers – and ultimately make the sector more inclusive.

“I think one of the most fascinating things to come out of the report is that it’s really easy to assume people don’t go on holiday just because they can’t afford it – it’s much more complicated than that,” says Lee, chief executive of the FHC. “55% of the families we supported last year had a mental health issue, a third experienced domestic abuse, and a fifth had a young carer looking after a parent or sibling.

"In the UK, about 25% of families have three or more dependent children – but with our families, that’s up at 40%. When you look at why it’s more difficult for these families to go on holiday and what can we do about the barriers they face, you wonder if the industry – if it has its eyes open to these barriers – could do something to address some of these issues?”

Last year, the FHC took a record 1,854 families on holiday. It may seem simple, but one reason some families don’t holiday, Lee tells TTG, is because they simply haven’t thought about it. After all, you can’t miss out on – or, in this case, want to do – something you’ve never done.

"About 50% of our families have never had a holiday, and when they talk about the impact of their first experience, it’s that they just never thought about it," Lee reveals. "If you’ve never had that experience, you wouldn’t prioritise it and perhaps only spend money on the things you know make you feel good.

"There are reflections in the report from a mum whose teenage son says he’s going to save up his money from his part-time job because he wants to go on holiday again. If you can introduce people [to holidays] and give them that first experience, they want to do it again.”

‘Travellers of the future’

Using Abta’s Holiday Habits report as a reference point, and pre-pandemic traveller numbers, the FHC estimates there are currently “at least” eight million Brits not taking domestic or overseas holidays. For the FHC, that sizeable group represents huge untapped potential both socially, given the vast wellbeing benefits time away can have, and economically, with travel firms keen to engage with new customers.

"Those people who don’t travel aren’t on any companies’ databases. If we can figure out how to reach them and engage with them then businesses can address them so they become part of the market," says Lee.

The FHC is urging travel businesses to “really listen” and take the time to consider why, according to its research, such a large number of potential travellers aren’t getting involved with the industry beyond financial barriers.

“It doesn’t have to cost you money as a company," Lee asserts, urging businesses to think about the way in which they operate and how they could potentially overcome people’s barriers to travel. "We want to do loads more work to unpick this so we can come to the industry with some real tangible action points."