It never gets any better for British millennials, does it? According to new data, British people are increasingly swapping overseas holidays for breaks closer to home (see caravans, AirBnB), as the fallout from the Iran war and rising cost-of-living pressures force families and younger travellers to scale back their plans, the Guardian reported on April 19.
Holiday park operators across the UK are reporting a sharp uptick in bookings. Lovat, which runs sites across south-west England, said website traffic jumped after reports of possible jet fuel shortages last week, with holiday bookings up more than 30% year on year. “It is a little bit like Covid, when people couldn’t get away and now they just want the certainty of a nice holiday in the UK,” Lovat chief executive Raoul Fraser said, the Guardian reported.
Butlin’s, which operates resorts at Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness, said it was seeing strong growth for summer school holiday periods but noted a marked shift in booking patterns, with families leaving decisions later. Chief executive Jon Hendry Pickup said the share of last-minute bookings had roughly doubled, from around 15-20% to closer to 30-40%, as households weigh up uncertainty and tighter budgets.
Landal UK managing director Jeremy Hipkiss said guests were choosing destinations reachable by car or public transport, with parks in Cornwall, Scotland and Lincolnshire proving popular.
Non-pandemic “pandemic”
Travel spending fell in March for the first time since pandemic restrictions lifted in 2021, dropping 3.3%, according to Barclays data. Spending on travel agents fell 4.6%, airlines 4.1% and public transport 2.9%.
Research firm Mintel said 52% of Britons surveyed planned to holiday in the UK this year, compared with 49% heading abroad.
Mintel travel analyst Sinead O’Connor said the domestic holiday market was expected to grow about 7% to close to GBP14bn ($17.6bn), outpacing the overseas market, which is forecast to grow 4.8% to GBP64.3bn ($80.8bn).
The pressure on overseas travel is being driven from two directions. Jet fuel prices averaged $197.83 a barrel last week, more than double the average a year ago, according to the International Air Transport Association. IATA director general Willie Walsh said on April 18 that flights in Europe could face cancellation from the end of May unless alternative supply lines are secured.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary warned this month that Britain would be the most exposed to jet fuel shortages because it relies on Kuwait for roughly 25% of its supply.
Willerby chief executive Peter Munk, whose Hull-based firm manufactures caravans, said inflation, which held at 3% in February but is expected to rise as the war pushes up energy costs, was reshaping expectations. “Most people still want a holiday, so it might be that they have fewer days or move closer to home and not have that dream holiday,” he said, the Guardian reported.
Delays at European border crossings caused by the EU’s new entry-exit system are adding a further deterrent for UK travellers, as we recently discovered in a trip to Poland and Sicily in recent travels
More than 100 passengers missed an easyJet flight from Milan to Manchester last week because of biometric checks, with the airport industry reporting delays of up to three hours at some crossings.