During todays sessions at the Travel Conference 2022, ABTA has published its Holiday Habits 2022 report, looking at how people travelled over the last 12 months.
The report examines people’s holiday plans for the year ahead, taking into account the rising cost of living, among other factors, and reveals the UK’s love affair with overseas travel is back with a vengeance – with 45% of people travelling abroad in the 12 months leading up to August 2022, equivalent to 70% pf people who took a foreign holiday in 2019. Given that the UK’s travel restrictions were lifted in March 2022; it is a significant proportion of people.
As well as overseas trips returning, this year has seen high demand for travel professionals and package holidays. More people have booked through a travel professional this year compared to 2019 (36% to 34%) with a notable rise in demand from young families and younger people. For everyone choosing to book via a professional, 44% stated it was the ease of booking that was their main motivation, followed by having someone to help and support if something goes wrong (35%).
Packages were showed to be the most popular way to travel on an overseas holiday, with almost two thirds (63%) of holidaymakers partaking in this type of trip. The top reasons for booking a package were the best price value (34%), having everything taken care of (29%) and the all-inclusive nature of the holiday (28%).
ABTA chief executive, Mark Tanzer, said, “The lifting of the UK’s travel rules this year unleashed a surge in overseas holidays, with almost twice as many people travelling abroad in the six months from March to August 2022 (38%), than in the previous six months. Given how much these restrictions had dampened demand, it’s quite remarkable to see foreign holiday taking already reaching 70% of 2019 levels, which was in itself a bumper year for travel, in such a short space of time.
“We now face an uncertain year ahead given the cost of living challenges, but ABTA’s research suggests that we should continue to see an increase in foreign holidays next year and, encouragingly, many of our Members have also been reporting a high level of demand for bookings.”
Looking ahead, it is clear that foreign travel is here to stay, with 61% of people planning to go abroad within the next 12 months. Despite increasing pressures on household finances, holiday spending will remain a priority, with people more likely to cut non-essential costs elsewhere, such as eating out, leisure activities and fashion before they cut back on their holidays.
