Travel continues strong rebound as spending with agents in December rises again
Harry KembleSpending on non-essential items rose 2.3% during December as the travel sector reported yet “another positive month”, according to new consumer data.
Barclays’ latest spending report, based on information from 18 November to 24 December, shows spending with travel agents grew by 12.8% and with airlines by 20.2%.
In the previous month, spending with travel agents rose by 9.2% with agents and 14% with airlines and in October it was up 9.6% and 12.9% respectively.
Last month the number of transactions with travel agents increased by 18.7%, while with airlines the number rose by 25.9%.
In addition, one in seven Brits (15%) said they planned to take more holidays in 2024 than in recent years, one in 10 (11%) has been saving up to afford a bigger holiday, and one in 10 will take advantage of deals in the January sales.
Beach holidays (44%), city breaks (37%) and adventure holidays (12%) are the most popular types of getaways for Brits currently.
The top destinations are the UK (47%), Spain (24%) and Greece (12%).
Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said: “Hospitality and leisure businesses will be encouraged by December’s strong growth.”
Jack Meaning, chief UK economist at Barclays, said: “We saw inflation fall significantly at the end of 2023, and we expect it to fall further in the opening months of 2024.
"This puts more spending power in the pockets of UK consumers and should help support them to continue to spend, even against the tough backdrop of weak economic growth.”
Barclays’ 2023 review revealed that spending with travel agents (10.4%) and airlines (30.8%) grew year-on-year. The figures related to spending between 1 January and 25 November 2023.
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