Price of foreign holidays 'reached 30-year low' in September

Speaking at a Santander and Travel Trade Consultancy breakfast briefing, Santander economist Adam Dent said one of the ‘stories’ it picked out from recent inflation was holidays.

He said according to RPI (Retail Price Index) data in September, the price of foreign holidays declined month-on-month by the most in “the 30-year history we’ve got in this series”.

“Whereas domestic holidays increased month-on-month by the most they have ever done in the history of this series,” said Dent.

“The correlation is weak, but record falls in foreign holidays and record rises in domestic can’t just be a coincidence.

“We’re reading this as a staycation event.

“This data was even before the worst of the recent currency collapse had happened.

“We see it as UK holidaymakers becoming increasingly concerned about how far their pound will go overseas, shifting their default expectations.

“Therefore hoteliers and holiday operators could afford to put their prices up because the pound had naturally pushed people towards them.

“Behavior is adapting already and so far nothing has actually happened with regards to Brexit.”