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 speeding 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 corporations have reported a bounce in bookings, with a surge in demand for getaways to north Africa and the United Arab Emirates alongside sustained urge for food for Mediterranean nations.
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 on the final minute to search out one of the best offers, in line with journey executives.
Garry Wilson, chief government of easyJet holidays, stated the journey arm of the price range 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 in style, “there are a lot of customers who are looking to try new destinations [and] for great value”, he stated, including that paying in month-to-month instalments was “increasing in popularity”.
On-line journey agent On the Seashore this week stated bookings for winter, which runs between November and April, had been at report 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 sturdy regardless of the wave of anti-tourism protests this yr.
Chief government Shaun Morton stated that though resorts in Greece and Turkey had been stretching the beginning and finish of their seasons, Britons had been being drawn by “some very good all-inclusive products in north Africa” with assured solar.
Use of month-to-month instalments had “never been more popular”, he added, with the present take-up price at 80 per cent and winter bookings representing 15 per cent of the journey agent’s whole enterprise.
The race for winter solar at reasonably priced 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 book getaways”.
The UK common imply temperature in November was 6.6C, in line with the Met Workplace, the nationwide climate service. In the identical month, the common temperature in Marrakech, Morocco is 22C, whereas the common day by day most temperature in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, is 24.9C.
Donat Rétif, chief government 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 in style vacation spot is the UAE: in October Virgin Atlantic elevated flights from the UK to Dubai from thrice every week to as soon as a day, and loveholidays and On the Seashore have reported increased 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 nations to open its borders after Covid and that milder temperatures in winter in contrast with summer time was driving bookings.
Some 2,105 flights had been resulting from 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 line with aviation information analyst Cirium.
Issam Kazim, chief government of the Dubai Company for Tourism and Commerce Advertising, stated Britons, who’re the second-largest market after travellers from India, had been attracted by the nation’s “safety, security and infrastructure”.
