Spending with agents continues to defy economic headwinds, new Barclays data shows
Harry KembleConsumer spending with travel agents rose by 9.6% last month despite discretionary spending levels tailing off in other areas, according to new figures from Barclays.
The monthly report, which combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with consumer research, revealed that card spending rose by just 2.6% generally.
In restaurants, spending dipped by 10.3% and the number of transactions dropped by 15%.
Barclays said Brits’ concerns over rising energy bills and outgoing costs ahead of the festive period had hindered discretionary spending.
However, the number of transactions with travel agents increased by 12.3% year-on-year.
This compares with September’s report when the year-on-year rise of 7.1% had prompted Barclays to comment that travel had been “one of the best-performing categories in 2023”.
Last month, spend on air tickets rose by 12.9%, while the number of transactions increased by nearly 24%.
Jack Meaning, chief UK economist at Barclays, said: “It looks as though the oomph continues to go out of squeezed UK consumers.
“The latest transaction data shows they are pulling back from discretionary spending and increasingly worried about their future ability to spend, adding to the picture painted by other data.”
He added: “Third-party consumer confidence data showed a significant drop in October, coming off the back retail sales contracting significantly in September.
“While some of these effects might be being amplified by unseasonal weather, it’s hard to dismiss the growing evidence.”
Sign up for weekday travel news and analysis straight to your inbox
Harry Kemble
Supplier Directory
Find contacts for 260+ travel suppliers. Type name, company or destination.
Editor's pick
Clients with kids? Consider Disney’s Encanto countryPARTNER CONTENT
Recommended For You
Latest travel jobs
Self-employed Holiday Sales Consultants
Junior Africa Sales Consultant
Travel Consultant - Barrhead, Newtownabbey
Competitions
Upcoming events
Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
