Gap-year travellers say they want to learn new skills

Learning a new skill is important to gap-year students, one travel expert has said.

A spokesperson for STA Travel has noted an increasing trend for students and graduates to come away from their year abroad with more than just a great tan.

Such learning holidays are likely to be very popular with gap-year students and career gappers, the spokesperson stated.

'The majority of gappers said they wanted to take something more than just a tan and fantastic memories back from their year out, with 53% saying they hoped to learn a new skill while on their gap year,' she remarked.

In fact, top of the agenda is the desire to become fluent in a foreign language, with nearly a quarter (24%) of travellers stating they intend to improve their ability to speak another language.

The spokesperson also noted that many gap-year students intend to learn how to cook the cuisine of the country they are staying in, although spending money is still on the agenda for career gappers, it seems.

This demographic was found by Mintel to spend £9,000 on a year abroad, £4,000 more than gap-year students.