Travel continuing to defy economic pressures following fourfold increase in lates
Will PayneThe holiday market is continuing to get later and later – by as much as four-and-a-half times – as travel heads into peak summer, with consumers seemingly undeterred by fresh cost of living pressures.
The Advantage Travel Partnership said it is continuing to see a "dramatic spike" in last-minute bookings, despite a 14th successive hike in interest rates on Thursday (3 August), with the rate now standing at 5.25%.
The consortium said the upturn in business came as Brits look to escape the recent bouts of rain and wind in the UK, opting to use their disposable cash on travel instead of other areas of discretionary spending.
Advantage chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said the UK’s outbound travel industry appears to be "bucking the trend once again" with the latest interest rate rise indicative of lower spending and high prices.
"The UK’s outbound travel industry was recently cited as the key driver that avoided the UK slipping into recession, and is also responsible for creating consumer retail spending prior to holidays driving consumer pre-holiday spend to the value of £51 billion," said Lo Bue-Said.
She continued: "Our travel agency partners have found that 18% of bookings in the past month have been for travel in August, which is an incredible increase on the 4% we would normally expect to see for late bookings in the peak summer months."
The leading destinations for these late bookings are Spain, Greece, Turkey and Italy, demonstrating the hot weather in Europe this summer has also not had a significant impact on UK travellers wanting to book holidays abroad, Lo Bue-Said claimed.
However, while people are continuing to book, they are seeking to economise; the proportion of bookings being made by Advantage members on an all-inclusive basis is currently running almost three times ahead (37%) of where it was at the same stage in 2022 (13%).
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