TUI survey shows booking trends after lockdown
Holidays are third in the list of things people are missing most in the lockdown, although Brits appear not to be in a rush to get travelling again.
A survey of 2,000 adults by TUI found the biggest thing people miss is seeing friends and family (75%), then eating out (47%), followed by holidays (38).
But only 15% want to get away as soon as possible, 16% want to travel by this winter and 45% want to take a holiday before summer 2021.
As the nation gradually starts to plan for life after lockdown and countries start to make plans to welcome back tourists, TUI found that although all-inclusive holidays are performing well in searches, there has been a notable increase in people searching for and booking self-catering and villa holidays.
May and June 2021 are currently the most popular travel months, although this might be mainly customers who had their trips in May and June cancelled this year and are rebooking.
The top 10 destinations people intend to go on holiday after the lockdown are as follows:
* Spain
* Greece
* Italy
* Florida
* The Caribbean
* Croatia
* Turkey
* Mexico
* Thailand
* Dubai
TUI said lockdown restrictions and habits will also influence our choices, with 20% of us saying we will be more likely to book a holiday with those family and friends we have been unable to see and 21% getting destination inspiration from looking at old holiday snaps.
TUI says it is expecting to see in a rise in group bookings as families look to reconnect and has seen some possible early signs that multi-generation and big family holidays may be on the up as growth shows signs of bookings of more than two adults and two children versus last year.
Meanwhile, searches on Marella Cruises’ website for ‘summer 2021 cruises’ reveal sailings from mid-haul destinations are proving popular, as are longer haul itineraries.
Aegean Shores sailing from Corfu Town on Marella Discovery 2 is currently the best performing itinerary for summer 2021. The Mediterranean route visits Heraklion Crete, Thira Santorini, Kusadasi Turkey, Piraeus for Athens and Zakynthos Town Zante.
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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