Holidays mean more to us than just relaxation and recuperation. They lift us out of our everyday lives and cast a new light on the world and on ourselves. Holidays create space for new ways of seeing, and space for thoughts to unfold in a way that never seems possible among the routines of normal daily life.

In one way or another, we have always known this. But Kuoni wanted to get into the details, which it is why it commissioned a series of independent, representative studies about what travel means to the Swiss and the British. The results are presented in full in the Kuoni Holiday Reports 2010.

Favourite destinations are only a very small part of the picture. Kuoni was far more interested in finding out what people talk about when they are on holiday, what influence holidays can have on relationships; to what extent people are prepared to leave their everyday lives behind and forget about social networking; whether a holiday is the right time to talk about serious subjects and make important decisions about life, and whether sustainability plays a role when booking holidays.

Many of the answers surprised us greatly; others confirmed what we already thought.

The study allowed Kuoni to identify the top consumer trends that will play an important role in the future of travel, and which we should let influence our work even more than they do already: the search for authenticity, the desire for self-actualisation, and trust in expert opinions are all factors that we need to consider.