Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of The Advantage Travel Partnership, detailing the trends and most popular destinations being booked by British travellers across Advantage’s travel agent partners this Easter.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “We have seen really strong demand for travel this Easter with bookings up 8 percent and revenue up 25 percent compared to Easter 2023. Holidays abroad are clearly remaining a key priority for Brits this year. A recent Barclays Consumer Spend report has said that foreign travel is topping the consumers spending list and we’re seeing this reflected in Easter bookings.
The appetite for traditional ‘winter sun’ holiday spots for this time of year remains as strong as ever with the Canary Islands once again leading as the top selling destination, taking a 17 percent share of all booking volume with Tenerife the most popular Canary Island. However the early Easter has driven demand for France, proving to be the second most popular destination as Brits head for ski holidays in the mountains, taking advantage of the extended season due to Easter falling earlier this year. Spain takes the third place and city breaks are taking a 13 percent share of departures with the top choices being Rome, Reykjavik, Paris, Prague and Krakow. Looking further afield, long-haul accounts for 23 percent of all departures, with the most popular destinations being New York and Orlando, Dubai & the Caribbean.
It’s clear that people are looking to manage their budgets during this time of economic turbulence with all-inclusive holiday options continuing to grow in popularity taking 37 percent of all departures partly due to the ability for travellers to be able to budget for their holiday expenditure up front. 20 percent of Easter departure bookings have been made since start of Feb 24 indicating that 1 in 5 people are booking last minute. For those looking to book a lastminute holiday this Easter there is still availability and we recommend that those looking to get away contact their local Advantage travel agent who will be able to use their expertise and vast wealth of experience and availability to help book the ideal holiday for all budgets.”