The number of UK consumers \u2018very likely\u2019 to take an overseas holiday between now and September rose significantly after the US\u2011Iran peace deal, according to research for Travel Weekly, though the deal is now under threat after strikes from both sides in recent days.<\/p>\n
Almost three out of 10 respondents (29%) said they are \u2018very likely\u2019 to take a holiday in the next three months in a post\u2011peace agreement poll, more than three percentage points up on the previous survey in May.<\/p>\n
A three-point rise represents more than 1.6 million adults and potentially as many households.<\/p>\n
The same survey, by The Harris Poll UK, found a 10-point fall since April in the proportion of respondents \u2018not confident\u2019 to travel abroad.<\/p>\n
The monthly poll was carried out on June 16-22 following the announcement of a US-Iran deal on June 15. The deal was signed on June 17, and the Foreign Office (FCDO) relaxed its advice against all but essential travel to the UAE, Qatar and other Gulf states on June 18.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The results also suggest a sharp rise in demand for packages following the war, with one in three respondents (32%) \u2013 and 43% of those planning to travel \u2013 saying they are \u2018more likely than usual\u2019 to book an Atol\u2011protected holiday \u2018given the situation in the Middle East and potential for disruption\u2019.<\/p>\n
However, the survey found no increase in intention to travel beyond Europe and a two-point fall since mid\u2011May in the proportion \u2018comfortable\u2019 to fly via the Gulf or to take a holiday in the region.<\/p>\n
Those findings were broadly confirmed by Alistair Rowland, chief executive of Blue Bay Travel, who said the relaxation of Foreign Office advice \u201cdidn\u2019t create a bounce and still hasn\u2019t\u201d. But he said: \u201cWhere we were washing out [rolling over or changing] hundreds of bookings each month [due to the advice], now we\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowland described bookings as \u201cweighted towards very late\u201d but suggested there is \u201cmore confidence\u201d to travel via the UAE this winter.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Rutter, regional sales manager at Seaside Travel, which has 13 outlets in the northeast of England, reported \u201ca notable change in customer confidence\u201d with \u201cgood booking volumes\u201d last week \u2013 44% for this summer and 38% for next.<\/p>\n
Advantage Travel Partnership commercial director John Sullivan also reported \u201cpositive growth\u201d, with sales last week up 17% year on year and July and August departures accounting for 35% of bookings. However, long-haul was \u201cless strong\u201d, he said, \u201cdespite the changes to FCDO restrictions\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Triangle Travel managing director Rob Kenton, who runs six agency branches in Berkshire and Oxfordshire, reported a 45% fall in bookings last week on the previous one, labelling \u201cthe combination of the World Cup and the heatwave a temporary distraction\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he said bookings remain \u201c5% up year on year\u201d, adding: \u201cThere has been a tangible shift in client confidence since the fuel-shortage headlines faded.\u201d He reported late bookings \u201cmade up only 10% of sales last week\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Travel Network Group chief operating officer Stephanie Slark noted \u201cmixed feedback\u201d from members, but hailed a \u201cgenerally positive picture\u201d, saying: \u201cWhile the late-booking market is beginning to soften, forward bookings remain strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Harris Poll UK surveyed 1,006 UK adults on behalf of Travel Weekly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The number of UK consumers \u2018very likely\u2019 to take an overseas holiday between now and September rose significantly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-683311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}