Keep knowledgeable with free updates
Merely signal as much as the Journey & leisure business myFT Digest — delivered on to your inbox.
Solar-seeking Britons are dashing to guide winter holidays in cheaper upcoming locations whereas more and more paying for journeys in instalments, boosting journey brokers and airways in a historically quieter a part of the yr.
Main carriers and journey firms have reported a soar in bookings, with a surge in demand for getaways to north Africa and the United Arab Emirates alongside sustained urge for food for Mediterranean international locations.
However as dwelling prices proceed to chunk, extra Britons are spreading the price of holidays over an extended interval and reserving both months prematurely or at the last minute to search out the most effective offers, in accordance with journey executives.
Garry Wilson, chief govt of easyJet holidays, stated the journey arm of the funds airline anticipated bookings within the yr to September 2025 to be up about 25 per cent on the earlier 12 months, with Egypt and Tunisia driving progress in winter.
Whereas Malta, Cyprus and Majorca remained fashionable, “there are a variety of clients who wish to attempt new locations [and] for excellent worth”, he stated, including that paying in month-to-month instalments was “rising in reputation”.
On-line journey agent On the Seaside this week stated bookings for winter, which runs between November and April, have been at document ranges and up 25 per cent yr on yr.
Bookings for Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt have soared 50 per cent in contrast with winter 2023, and demand for the Mediterranean stays strong regardless of the wave of anti-tourism protests this yr.
Chief govt Shaun Morton stated that though resorts in Greece and Turkey have been stretching the beginning and finish of their seasons, Britons have been being drawn by “some superb all-inclusive merchandise in north Africa” with assured solar.
Use of month-to-month instalments had “by no means been extra fashionable”, he added, with the present take-up charge at 80 per cent and winter bookings representing 15 per cent of the journey agent’s whole enterprise.
The race for winter solar at inexpensive costs comes amid sustained vacation demand following the pandemic. Shopper card spending on journey rose by 6 per cent yr on yr in November, Barclays stated this week, as “the winter blues prompted Brits to guide getaways”.
The UK common imply temperature in November was 6.6C, in accordance with the Met Workplace, the nationwide climate service. In the identical month, the typical temperature in Marrakech, Morocco is 22C, whereas the typical day by day most temperature in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, is 24.9C.
Donat Rétif, chief govt of loveholidays, stated heat climate in north Africa was driving enterprise, with bookings on the UK’s largest on-line journey agent for Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt up by 128 per cent, 36 per cent and 31 per cent respectively in contrast with 2023.
One other fashionable vacation spot is the UAE: in October Virgin Atlantic elevated flights from the UK to Dubai from 3 times every week to as soon as a day, and loveholidays and On the Seaside have reported greater demand.
Chinese language on-line journey agent Journey.com stated Christmas bookings by UK travellers to the UAE, whose capital is Abu Dhabi, had surged by 170 per cent in contrast with final yr.
Andy Washington, normal supervisor for Europe, stated the UAE had been boosted by being one of many first international locations to open its borders after Covid and that milder temperatures in winter in contrast with summer season was driving bookings.
Some 2,105 flights have been because of take off between Dubai and the UK between October and December, equating to greater than 964,000 seats, essentially the most ever provided in that quarter of the yr, in accordance with aviation information analyst Cirium.
Issam Kazim, chief govt of the Dubai Company for Tourism and Commerce Advertising and marketing, stated Britons, who’re the second-largest market after travellers from India, have been attracted by the nation’s “security, safety and infrastructure”.
