Cautious optimism for holiday market
A report by ABTA and the Foreign Office has predicted "cautious optimism" in the holiday market for the year ahead.
According to The Travel Trends Report 2014, value for money will remain a priority for many and package holidays will perform well again in 2014.
"We know that Brits hate to cut back on their holidays and after several years of tough market conditions, we are seeing early signs of more optimism amongst British consumers," said ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer.
"However, with the squeeze on household budgets continuing, we are expecting that tried and tested destinations and package holidays will continue to perform well in the coming year. We are also expecting a range of other overseas destinations to prove popular in 2014, as well as another good year for domestic tourism after the heatwave in the UK in summer 2013."
The report also found that domestic tourism is expected to remain in strong shape in 2014, thanks to the feel-good-factor created by the Jubilee and Olympics and 2013’s sunny summer.
A list of "Destinations to Watch" included a mixture of long, mid and short haul destinations, holiday favourites and emerging destinations.
The destinations are:
~· Brazil
~· The Caribbean (Antigua)
~· Costa Rica
~· Greece
~· Malaysia
~· Mauritius
~· Mexico, The Pacific Coast and Baja
~· Oman
~· Portugal
~· Slovenia
~· Sicily, Italy
~· USA (Texas/New Mexico/Alaska)
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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