February half-term travel: ABTA encourages holidaymakers to prepare ahead of busy weekend for travel

According to ABTA’s latest Holiday Habits¹ research, of those planning on taking a holiday abroad in the next 12 months, 15% of families with children plan to take a holiday abroad during the February half-term.

The February break offers a multitude of options for a holiday overseas – from hitting the slopes to escaping for some much-needed winter sun. City breaks are also popular at this time of year, as people opt for the chance to take in the sights and museums.

When asked what type of holidays families planned to take during the winter period (November to March), families with children of school age said a city break (37%), a cruise (28%), a winter sun holiday (26%) and 15% said a skiing or snowboarding holiday.

With February half-term an extremely popular time for family ski trips, ABTA is advising parents to make sure they have travel insurance for winter sports activities, ensuring it covers all of the family. Ski cover is not always included in standard policies, and costs can run into the thousands if people need medical assistance or need to be airlifted off the mountain.

ABTA also says it is important travellers are prepared for their trips this half term, particularly as there have been changes to travel since the last school break.

More and more airports and ports in Europe are applying the new Entry/Exit System (EES), which sees additional information gathered at passport control, including fingerprints and facial scans. Travellers should be prepared that passport checks will take longer and are advised to give themselves plenty of time to go through passport control when taking their return flight home.

Similarly, the UK Government’s new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) comes fully into force on 25th February. While British citizens and dual-nationals won’t need an ETA, if you are dual-national British citizen travelling back on or after this date, you’ll need your British passport or certificate of entitlement to show on your return.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive, said:

“We know how important holidays are for family life – a chance to take time out and be together, uninterrupted by daily life. We want them to go as smoothly as possible, which is why, ahead of half-term, we’re offering a few timely reminders.

“With a few changes coming into force, it is important that travellers understand what may be different for their holiday this time around, and allow extra time for going through passport control checks. ABTA has further travel advice available on its website to help holidaymakers prepare for February half-term travel.”

ABTA’s advice for:

Travel insurance - Travel insurance | ABTA
EU Entry/Exit System - Upcoming changes for travel to Europe | ABTA
The UK ETA - The UK’s ETA scheme | ABTA


Notes to editors
¹All figures in the press release are from ABTA’s annual Holiday Habits survey, carried out each summer by The Nursery Research and Planning (www.the-nursery.net) with a nationally representative sample of 2,001 UK adults. The 2025 survey took place between 21st July and 1st August.

ABTA is a trade association for UK travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry. We’re the largest travel trade body, with over 4,300 travel brands in membership who have a combined annual UK turnover of over £40 billion. We work closely with our members to help raise and maintain standards and build a more sustainable travel industry, and provide travellers with advice, guidance and support.

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