The Platt Effect, The Trump Slump and BYO on board

Andrew Shelton, managing director of flight search and travel deals website, Cheapflights.co.uk, unveils its predictions of the hottest travel trends of 2017.

1. What a carry on! Hand luggage only please
With British Airways announcing charges for food on board this year, the beginning of the end for all-inclusive airlines has officially arrived. The majority of carriers are adopting the no frills model of charging for anything they can, and the consumer has voted with their luggage with stats showing already 22% are willing to travel hand luggage only. This number will increase in 2017 as savvy travellers pack light to take flight.

2. Buy before you fly – BYO on board
Whilst in 2016 eating healthily was ‘pie in the sky’, with less than a fifth of Brits taking their own food on board, new EU legislation just enforced (13 December 2016) will undoubtedly increase awareness of the high sugar and salt levels in airline food. This, and the continued health food revolution – and unfaltering rise of food stars such as Deliciously Ella and the Hemsley Sisters – means travellers may well make better informed food choices and avoid airline food.

3. The Platt Effect
The High Court victory of father Jon Platt, who refused to pay a £120 fine for taking his daughter on holiday during school term-time, sparked a surge in demand for term-time travel. Analysis of flight searches to popular family holiday destinations including Lanzarote, Malaga, Gran Canaria and Florida showed demand for travel during the spring and autumn term-time periods jumped by as much as 50% once the ruling was announced. Perhaps emboldened by news of the case, family travellers on trips that see savings of over one thousand pounds by travelling in term time – skiing or Disney World – may weigh up the cost benefits of a statutory fine. Cheapflights has pinpointed a variety of money saving tips that can bring down the cost of travel, without the risk of incurring a fine.

4. The Bleisure Boom
‘Have lap top, will travel’ is the modern mantra and the line between leisure and business travel is blurring further. In 2017, look for more people exploring the world by working business hours at their day job and then exploring in their time off. Top destinations include New York, Paris and Brussels although in theory, where there’s Wi-Fi there’s a way.

5. US Tourism – The Trump Slump?
That ‘special relationship’ will endure. However, it’s fair to say that uncertainty around which restrictive policies will be implemented by the new government could trigger a Trump Slump to this traditional favourite and perhaps mean Brits delay booking their Stateside holidays or even consider switching to an alternative destination, such as Canada.

6. Heir Heir – A Royally good New Year
Royal visits can give destinations a boost in the public consciousness: think Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal and more recently, how Canada enjoyed the limelight when it rolled out the red carpet for the Cambridges. Searches leapt 40% year on year after Wills, Kate, George and Charlotte touched down in Canada for their first overseas Royal Tour as a family. Top destinations destined to benefit in 2017 include Toronto, where HRH Prince Harry will open the Invictus Games in September.

7. Green Tourism
Protecting the planet and eco-tourism may well continue to inspire travel choices but the other kind of green will prove popular in 2017. The spread of the legalisation of cannabis means ‘bud’ and breakfast will see destinations such as Alaska, Colorado, Jamaica and Uruguay capitalise on cannabis.

8. In the palm of your hand
Portable travel search is set to be the biggest step change in travel. Increasingly, travellers can expect text alerts for airfare sales, to get a price from their favourite voice-based internet device, or find a flight through Facebook Messenger. We’ve launched Facebook chat, emoji and drag and drop search functions this year, and now 60% of demand comes to us from portable devices. It really is a case of travel planning on the go.