Gap year bookings soar as youngsters look to bolster their CVs

With this year's A-level results having now been released, teenagers up and down the country are making plans for their future, and it seems that many are willing to go further than ever before to give themselves a head start in life.

Indeed, with the job market more competitive than ever, youngsters are fully aware that in order to impress an employer they need to demonstrate life skills and experiences that set them apart from the rest, and taking a gap year is a great way of doing so.

According to student and youth travel company STA Travel, the number of school-leavers deciding to take 12 months out and explore the world has increased dramatically this year, with a 25 per cent rise in the number of round-the-world trips featuring five stops or more having been sold compared to 2013.

In particular, working holidays have seen an enormous jump in popularity, so it's clear that many of these youngsters are looking to pick up as many skills and experiences as they can during their gap year, in the hope of becoming more employable once they return.

Traditional gap year destinations such as Peru, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and the US were once again found to be the most popular, with backpackers keen to experience key landmarks such as Machu Picchu, the Great Barrier Reef and others.

However, STA has also reported a significant lead in sales to other, less travelled locations, with trips to Iceland up by a staggering 129 per cent this year. The company's UK managing director Glen Mintrim puts this down to the fact that the country is now more affordable than ever after the banking crash, and says that this is tempting many gap year travellers to stop off here to see the Northern Lights on the way home from the east coast of the US.

Posted by Robin Western