Staycations originally became popular after the financial crisis of 2008, when people were looking for ways to cut back on their spending. Apart from the savings, let's not ignore the other benefits: you don’t have any of the problems associated with travel, such as packing, long drives, delays at airports and so on; and you bring money to the local economy, by eating out, for example. The only people who hope this kind of holiday won't catch on are the holiday companies themselves.