Tui has added another 1,000 hotels to its summer 2025 programme to help it meet growing demand for alternative durations, hinting the traditional seven-night holiday could soon be a thing of the past.
Demand for alternative or flexible durations – five, six, eight, nine, 11, 12 and 13-night stays – is up by more than 60% year-on-year.
However, Tui said the trend was being driven predominantly by families, with family bookings for alternative durations up by 123% year-on-year.
This demand, said Tui, is being seen most readily on bookings for the Balearics, Greece, Turkey, the Canaries and mainland Spain.
There has also been an 11% year-on-year increase in demand for free children’s places this summer.
While nine-night breaks are currently the top selling alternative duration for summer 2024, the biggest year-on-year increases are for 12-night stays (+294%) and eight-night stays (+231%).
Six-night bookings, meanwhile, are up by 188% year-on-year and five-night stays up by 30%.
Tui said the additional 1,000 hotels for summer 2025 could be booked on a five-, six-, eight-, nine- and 12-night basis, and could be paired too with departures from more than 20 UK airports to make booking options even more flexible.
"The increase in alternative durations speaks to the continued demand we are seeing for flexibility and choice in travel," said Phill Iveson, Tui UK and Ireland commercial director.
"People want travel options that work for their unique lives, and we continuously look at how they want to holiday. Offering varied durations is just one part of that."
Iveson said the airline and operator was working closely with hoteliers to continue providing varied duration options. "The additional hotels on sale for next summer are testament to the positive bookings we’ve seen across seasons," he added.
"Appetite to travel is stronger than ever and we know that popular Mediterranean destinations like Turkey, Greece and Spain continue to be a hit with UK holidaymakers.”
Find contacts for 260+ travel suppliers. Type name, company or destination.