‘Tap into consumer choice of holidays to shape identity’


There are “huge” opportunities for the travel industry as the demands of consumers become more diverse and people use holidays to shape their identity. That was the message from


research and forward insight analyst Tom Johnson. He said holidays were


Industry leaders and speakers at a lunch hosted by Abta and The Telegraph in Ponta Delgada, the Azores


‘Holiday-taking by Britons rises to average 3.8 a year’


Brits are taking more holidays than they have done for six years, an Abta report suggests.


The average number of holidays


taken per person in the year to August 2017 grew to 3.8, up from 3.4 last year, almost equalling the 3.9 figure seen in 2011. The average number of overseas


holidays increased to 1.7, having dropped to 1.4 in 2016. Abta’s Holiday Habits Report


also revealed that 87% of Brits took a holiday either at home or abroad in the 12 months to August 2017. This was the largest proportion


5.6


Number of hols taken by people in the north


of the UK population taking a holiday since 2011. The growth was fuelled outside the capital, with every region in the country increasing its holiday- taking with the exception of London, which saw a marked drop. People in the north took 5.6


Seville to host next year’s convention


Abta will stage next year’s Travel Convention in Seville. The conference will take place on October 8-10, 2018, at the five-


star Barceló Sevilla Renacimiento hotel. Additional accommodation will be available at the nearby Eurostars Torre Sevilla. It will be the 12th time Abta has hosted its convention in Spain. Delegates will be able to travel direct to Seville from London on services operated by British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair.


holidays per person, followed by those in the West Midlands (4.5), but Londonders took just three. The survey also suggests


holidaymakers are thinking more carefully about how they spend their money and planning ahead more, with 26% booking earlier, up from 21% in 2016. Cheaper prices and/or


better deals were cited as the number-one reason for doing this by 59% of early bookers. Of the 2,000 people surveyed,


almost a third said they were planning to spend more, up from 24% last year, to ensure they got their first choice of destination. Despite confusion over Brexit,


63% said they were still planning to travel to Europe in the next 12 months. Mark Tanzer, Abta chief


executive, said: “Despite a year when people’s spending power has been squeezed, it is clear that British people still value their holidays immensely.”


Tom Johnson, Trajectory


becoming less of a break from work and more about “saying something about who we are”. Johnson, director of


Trajectory, said: “The holidays we take are not just a break, they are about saying something about who we are, our identity. “Are we gourmet travellers, boho travellers, thrillseekers? We could be all three at once and the reason is that we have more time to take holidays than we used to. “There are huge opportunities


for travel. There is an increased demand for active, sporting events and a rejection of our digital lives.” However, he said Brexit


could have a big impact on travel and tourism if we see the introduction of Esta-style visas and levies imposed on travel.


19 October 2017 travelweekly.co.uk 15


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