'We're booking with agents', say older travellers

Research carried out by Silver Travel Advisor in March 2022 found those happy to book directly with a hotel or airline had fallen to 24%, compared to 48% when the same question was asked in July 2021.

Silver Travel Advisor said: “These travellers are instead looking to book with an operator or travel agent, with both of these categories taking the majority of responses in the March 2022 survey – direct with a tour operator grew from 30% to 39%, while a travel agent (online and contact) booking method jumped from 20% to 37%.”

Silver Travel Advisor’s Industry Snapshot, compiled from 4,181 responses, found 14% of respondents would book through an online agent and 23% via an agent “I can speak to”.

The poll found 45% of respondents planned to travel before the end of May and 27% in June-August.

The report said “Almost half our respondents plan to travel in the next three months, however when compared to the July 2021 survey the highest scoring time period was 3-6 months. This shows confidence to travel has increased and there is a strong lates opportunity for short lead travel.

“The early booking window has also reduced, in the March survey 7% were delaying travel until the next year which is down significantly from 22% who in July indicated they would wait over 12 months to travel.”

The type of holiday planned has also changed since July. Cruise has jumped 12 percentage points from the July 2021 survey, with 18% now planning one. Touring is up from just 4% in July 2021 to 10% in March 2022. A hotel stay remains the most popular holiday type, but this has dropped slightly from 40% in July 2021 to 32% in March 2022.

Silver Travel Advisor owner and managing director Lisa McAuley said: “The British travel industry and consumers have always been recognised globally as being resilient, and true to form our research shows that despite understandable caution, resilience and determination are still evident.”