With many delaying their bookings, ABTA reveals the ‘confidence builders’ which may help get more people over the line

With its recent research showing that 38% of potential holidaymakers have delayed their decision to book, ABTA has released new data showing what is currently giving people the confidence to travel overseas.

ABTA hopes the findings will give members up-to-date insight into the messages they can use with their customers, to boost their confidence to travel and get bookings over the line.

The research is a snapshot of sentiment following months of headlines of EES queues, travel disruption and restrictions due to the Middle East conflict, and speculation over jet fuel prices and availability. Compared with when it was last run in summer 2025, there are two areas where attitudes have changed in a significant way.*

These are ‘seeing Government advice that the destination is safe to travel to’, with 40% of people now saying this is essential to give them confidence to travel, up from 36%, and ‘knowing that the company I’ve booked with is an ABTA member’, which has risen from 42% to 46% believing this to be ‘essential’ for confidence.

The top ways for people to feel confident about travel remain knowing that ‘they have the right travel documents in place’ (69% say this is essential), followed by being ‘able to get home if my travel company goes bust’ (60%).

ABTA says that all these areas are ones which travel providers can focus on in their consumer communications to help give people the assurance to book.

At the other end of the scale, just 15% say it’s essential for their confidence that they ‘travel to somewhere I feel familiar with or have visited before’. And, despite the difficult roll-out of EES during 2026, 32% of consumers saying ‘being able to easily travel through the airport or port’ is essential for confidence is the same proportion as last summer.

The full list of consumer attitudes to 20 confidence builders is available for ABTA members only, on ABTA’s Member Zone section of its website.

Graeme Buck, ABTA’s Director of Communications, said: 

“In turbulent times, many people will want more reassurance than usual before they take the plunge and splash out on their holidays. Our research indicates the conversations which can be had with customers, and included in marketing, to give potential customers a confidence boost.

“With FCDO advice gaining more traction as a confidence builder, it reinforces the positive impact we may see among people following last week’s relaxation of guidance on travelling to the Gulf. It’s also a reminder of how important it is to talk to customers about official travel advice and ABTA has guidance for members on how best to do that.

“With a significant change in those wanting to know that the company they’ve booked with is an ABTA member, all our members should benefit from prominently displaying the logo and highlighting their membership in all they do.”

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* Changes in consumer attitudes to 20 different topics between summer 2025 and this year have been assessed by independent market research company The Nursery Research and Planning. Of these, changes relating to Government advice, and ABTA membership, are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level, meaning they are unlikely to be due to natural variation in the research process and instead reflect genuine shifts in attitudes.

For further information, contact:
press@abta.co.uk or 0203 117 0596
Out of Hours: contact the duty press officer 020 3693 0183
Web: www.abta.com

Notes to editors

Figures refer to ABTA’s survey carried out by The Nursery Research and Planning (www.the-nursery.net) with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults. The survey took place between 8th-19th May 2026. All figures referring to the previous survey are from ABTA’s annual Holiday Habits research, carried 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 2025.

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 3,500 travel brands in membership who have a combined annual UK turnover of over £41 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.

Our members sign up to a code of conduct and commit to agreed service standards and fair trading. When you need clear travel information, and accurate and impartial advice relating to your trip, we’re here for you. When you book with an ABTA member, reliable advice comes as standard. This means that booking with our members brings peace of mind.

All this together means we help you travel with confidence. www.abta.com.