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This is ABTA’s ninth Holiday Habits report, revealing the planning and booking behaviour of UK holidaymakers over the past year and their attitudes to holiday-taking in the year ahead.
Once again, despite the continuation of the political crisis that has gripped the nation for many months, the research shows that Britons remain firmly committed to taking their holidays. The proportion of the population taking a holiday and the average number of holidays per person have both increased.
However, what is also noticeable is how much people have cut their holiday spending – before and during a holiday – over the past two years, so it seems clear that people are preserving their holidays while budgeting ever more carefully.
It has been another positive year for the package holiday – figures show a slight increase on last year with half the population taking at least one package. During times of uncertainty, package holidays hold particular appeal for customers as they enable people to budget more easily.
Responsible tourism has been increasing in public consciousness in recent years, and this year’s research findings reinforce this fact: the number of people who say they would choose one travel company over another if they have better sustainability practices has increased by 10% in just four years. Many travel businesses have been factoring environmental and social impacts into their business planning and decision-making for some time now and this research reinforces the importance of this work.
Mark Tanzer
Chief Executive