Kiwis don't fly... not for the summer holidays anyway.

Instead, we drive to our favourite destinations to relax with friends and family and enjoy the sun.

But a recent poll shows more than a third New Zealanders have not made holiday plans, and part of that is due to cost.

The survey from Perceptive Research found that the economic downturn is having an impact on summer spending choices.

One women told First Up she was going to have a holiday locally because everything was too expensive.

"We've got lots of stuff in New Zealand to do, so there's no need to go overseas," she said.

Another woman said to keep costs down she was going camping with family.

"We go camping every year. We usually plan on holidays with my daughter and her husband as well."

One man said he liked to go what he called "vamping" over the summer.

New Zealand Research Company Perceptive asked nearly 1600 people about their holiday plans.

Managing Director Dan Shaw said most Kiwis who were planning to travel were keeping things local.

"The majority of people are going and spending time with friends and family at the beach, at a bach booking through Book-a-Bach or Air BnB, we see a lot of that happening, probably those traditional Kiwi type holidays."

That was good news for Marie Mckernan, founder of Hosts on the Coast, a local Coromandel bach provider.

"We've got more and more bookings coming in everyday.

"So we are 90 percent booked of all houses for New Year's and more bookings that I've now got to get in into my emails and sort.

"We'll have no houses without a booking for New Year."

"Summer's looking very good. We started this business four years ago and since then we've had Covid, damaged roads, cyclones and storms."

The Perceptive survey also showed only 29 percent of respondents were travelling internationally over the break.

Shaw told First Up the cost of living crisis might be encouraging people to have a traditional Kiwi holiday this year.

"In terms of not having the same potentially disposable income available to Kiwi families, I think that that's exactly what we're seeing that intent to go in and join New Zealand, you know, to get to the beach, to go and enjoy those those bach - camping, caravaning, those sort of things, it certainly seems like it's generated that shift back to the traditional Kiwi holiday."

For others, it was more appealing to stay at home during the peak holiday period to avoid.

One woman said she was planning to entertain at home.

"I'm not planning to go away, but I am planning to have lots of friends over, lots of good food, good company and just nice time to wind down and avoid the traffic.

"We'll go away around February, March. I'll go to the beach."

And of course, another popular option for an affordable break was to find a family member living near the beach.

One woman said she was staying with her mother-in-law.

"So it's just in Katikati. So it's low cost for us cause we have somewhere to stay and she's close to the beach."

Camping is a popular and cheap getaway option for many Kiwis with a standard department of conservation campsite costing an adult $10 to $15.

DOC said many sites are already booked out over the peak Christmas and New Year period, but there were still opportunities for those looking to explore the natural beauty of places like Northland over the summer.

-RNZ