Inspiring travel in 2024
ABTA’s Destinations to Watch 2024 report offers holidaymakers inspiration for their trips this year and insight on places we anticipate will become increasingly popular with the UK traveller. 

Our recent research finds that 64% of people will travel abroad over the next 12 months¹. If those numbers become reality, then the percentage of people travelling will be in line with 2019 – which was a bumper year for travel.

Embracing new destinations
Holidaymakers are also expected to embrace their more curious side when it comes to the destinations they choose to visit. 

Almost half (47%) of people say they plan to visit a new city or resort they have never been to this year, and 41% are planning to head to a country they’ve not been to before. 

With a nod to that, this report puts under the spotlight some alternatives to UK holidaymakers’ traditional favourite destinations and uncovers what different countries have to offer. 

Holidaying at home and abroad
ABTA’s long-running research with consumers shows that the majority of holidaymakers take multiple trips a year – an average of 3.4 holidays per person taken in 2023 – holidaying both at home and abroad. 

Over the next 12 months 58% are planning a holiday in the UK, and our members are here to help them, with many selling both UK and overseas trips. 

For the first time in this report, we showcase a UK destination, offering food for thought for those wishing to explore what our shores have to offer.

Discovering destinations throughout the year
As we reported in Holiday Habits 2023-24, people are embracing all-year-round travel – enjoying breaks in the shoulder season as well as the peak months. We believe this is for a number of reasons:

• Firstly, as we as we already outlined, people take multiple trips so they spread them across the year. 
• Secondly, it’s currently a value driven market so, where they can, people are being flexible with when they travel to get the best price.
• Thirdly, this is what destinations have been working towards; encouraging people to travel across the year, and to a wide-range of destinations.

The content of this year’s report reflects this, providing ideas and suggestions to places that are worthy of discovery and highlighting that visiting the same place at two different times of the year can offer a stark contrast in terms of what’s on offer.

Holidays remain a spending priority
It would be remiss to talk about travel this year without reflecting on the wider economic picture. Households continue to face a squeeze on their finances due to the rising cost of living, and our economic situation remains uncertain. 

But data from ABTA and the wider industry continues to show the appetite for travel remains, with holidaymakers looking to cut back on other purchases before their sacrifice their holiday. 

ABTA members are here to help
This report uses the trends and buying habits of the UK travelling public, as well as industry and insights, to compile ten destinations we hope will inspire travel this year. Our members are on hand to help plan and book those dream holidays, and ABTA will continue to work to help people travel with confidence.

^{1 All figures in this section are from ABTA’s Holiday Habits 2023-24 report. Next 12 months refers to September 2023 to August 2024.}