UK holiday bookings are spiking partly due to travel uncertainty caused by the Iran war.
Holiday firms and travel companies are reporting strong sales for domestic breaks, as jet fuel supply issues cause airlines to cancel flights.
Certain UK destinations are set to benefit in a big way. Train ticket figures exclusively shared with the Express show the ten destinations that have seen the biggest summer sales boosts so far this year.
Sajjad Motamed, UK country manager of Trainline, said: “Our data shows key staycation destinations are set to surge this June, with seaside and coastal hotspots leading the charge. Destinations like Scarborough are seeing bookings jump by more than 80% year-on-year, while places such as Cardiff and Chester are also seeing notable increases.
"What stands out is the mix of classic beach destinations alongside vibrant cities – showing that the UK has something for everyone this summer, with rail connecting people to destinations across the country.”
It's not just rail companies that are enjoying an uptick in sales. Resort company Butlin's, based in Bognor Regis, Minehead and Skegness, has also seen “strong growth for the summer school holidays”, its chief executive Jon Hendry Pickup told LBC.
“Normally, we get somewhere in the region of 15 per cent to 20 per cent of people booking a holiday in the last four weeks before they come. Now it is roughly double that,” he said.
Raoul Fraser, the chief executive of holiday park operator Lovat, said his company's website had seen a surge in traffic following warnings of jet fuel shortages, with bookings up more than 30 per cent this year.
“It is definitely having a positive impact for us,” he said, likening the situation to Covid when Brits couldn't travel out of the UK for holidays.
A survey of 2,000 consumers by tax firm RSM UK found that more than a quarter (27%) of consumers are not planning to take a holiday in the next 12 months, which is up from 19% before the Iran war broke out.
The top three holiday types that have been paused are self-organised trips overseas (down 8%), cruise holidays and adventure tour holidays (both down 6%).
Just shy of a third of those surveyed have changed travel plans as a direct result of the current conflict in the Middle East, with 5% having changed plans from an overseas holiday to a UK destination.
As well as the threat of a cancelled flight, the cost of jetting away is up, largely due to the increased cost of jet fuel.
Today, British Airways’ parent company warned its profits will be hit as it expects to spend about two billion euros (£1.72 billion) more than planned on fuel this year amid the Iran oil crisis. International Airlines Group (IAG) chief executive Luis Gallego said it is “managing the uncertainty” caused by the fuel price increase by “taking the necessary action on yields, costs and capacity”.
He said all airlines “need to increase fares in order to mitigate the impact” of the increase in the price of fuel, which represents about a quarter of their costs.
