“The domestic market gained significant holiday market share in 2009 and maintained it in 2010. The positive news for short-haul operators is that half of consumers still see holidaying in Europe as great value for money compared to the UK despite the weak Pound - a perception aided by falling resort costs in Spain and other eurozone countries.”

– John Worthington, Senior Analyst

In this report we answer the key questions:

Has the recession changed where people choose to go on holiday in Europe?

What is the likely impact of proposed changes to Air Passenger Duty (APD)?

Are short-haul holidays still threatened by the staycation factor?

Is the two-week summer holiday in the Med increasingly a thing of the past?

What are the prospects for non-aviation travel modes?

Definition:

For the purposes of this report, Mintel defines a short-haul holiday as all overseas holidays taken by UK residents within Europe. The term ‘short-haul’ often refers specifically to holidays by air, however, for this report we have considered all holidays to Europe by air, sea and tunnel.

Long-haul, therefore, refers to holidays outside Europe.

An adult, for the purposes of Mintel’s research, is anyone aged 16 or over.

Other standard travel and tourism definitions used in the terminology of this report are as follows:

– tourism is any travel, which involves an overnight stay away from home.

– a holiday is a subjectively defined form of tourism, as defined by the tourist in response to surveys such as the IPS. A holiday can be distinguished from other leisure travel such as visits to friends and relatives (VFR) or shopping trips.

– an inclusive tour, or package holiday, is defined as the simultaneous sale of at least two elements of a holiday to the traveller: fares on public transport (eg flights) and commercial accommodation (eg hotel or self-catering apartment). Other elements, such as meals or excursions, are not essential to the definition of an inclusive tour. The term ‘all-inclusive’ is used to describe a special type of resort holiday in which food, drink, excursions and other services are provided as part of the total holiday cost.

– an independent holiday is one in which the traveller organises and books transport and accommodation from separate sources (eg a Channel ferry crossing and a caravan site in France).

– Seat- or flight-only is a type of independent holiday, and the terms are used to denote holidays in which travellers only purchase a return fare and thereafter book their own accommodation, car hire etc.

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