Spain and France are still drawing British holidaymakers, but more of them are booking closer to home. Raoul Fraser, founder of Lovat Parks, said summer bookings at the holiday park operator were up 35% on last year as fears over flight cancellations and long delays at EU borders pushed demand into the UK market.
Fraser said, "People are booking as we get closer to the school holidays and more confident that we are going to have good weather in July". He also said, "With everything that is going on in Iran, many people do not want to go anywhere east of southern Europe and a lot of money is coming into the UK market."
UK holiday parks see a stampede
Matthew Price, chief executive of Awaze, said there had been a "stampede" to UK holiday accommodation near water. He said summer bookings for stays near lakes and lochs were up 12% on last year, and riverside properties were also 12% higher.
Price added that "Breaks closer to home are really appealing. Holidaymakers are taking advantage of the warmer weather, booking spontaneous getaways where they can enjoy a dip and escape the heat". Seaside towns such as Whitby, Bridlington and Newquay were among the most popular destinations.
Booking.com search demand rises
Booking.com said searches among UK travellers for domestic summer trips were up 10% compared with last year. The biggest rises in interest were for Liverpool, Ingoldmells and London, while Keswick in the Lake District ranked fourth.
Waitrose said it was preparing for what it predicted would be the biggest staycation summer on record. The company projected sales at its Menai Bridge branch in Anglesey would rise 23%, and forecast increases of 17% in Truro, Bridport and East Cowes.
Europe, the EU entry-exit system and delays
Sinead O’Connor, a travel analyst at Mintel, said there had been a 5% rise in staycation plans this summer. She said, "Although Europe also remains a popular choice, reports of queues at the border gives Britons pause for thought, with 39% of consumers saying that the introduction of the entry-rxit system has put them off travelling in Europe."
Abta found that 38% of potential holidaymakers had delayed their decision to book this summer. Airlines are also expected to raise fares because of higher jet fuel bills resulting from the war in the Middle East, a further pressure on travellers deciding between Europe and the UK.
That leaves holidaymakers making their choices later and more locally, with domestic operators, Booking.com and retailers already seeing the shift in the school-holiday period. The next change likely to move the market is whether EU border queues ease enough to pull more bookings back toward Europe.
