What you need to know
The overseas holiday market has a positive outlook for 2015 and beyond. Package holiday volumes are rising at a higher rate than independent holidays. Consumer confidence improvements will see increases in the value of holidays, however habits developed during the recession to save costs continue to be part of the holiday booking process.
Consumers are prepared to pay extra during their holidays, however for many this revolves around eating out, rather than upgrading to luxury options. Holidaymakers that are looking to take relaxing holidays, such as spending time at the beach or going on a cruise, are more likely to book a package, proving that they want the relaxation to start before they get on holiday.
Products covered in this report
This report examines the habits and attitudes of British adults concerning package and independent holidays taken both in the UK and abroad. A holiday must constitute at least one overnight stay. The business travel market is not reviewed in this report. For the purposes of this report, Mintel defines a package holiday in conjunction with the International Passenger Survey (IPS) as an ‘advertised inclusive tour or package holiday’. A package holiday is considered to be a holiday in which a return fare and accommodation are purchased from one provider, for a single price. An adult, for the purposes of Mintel’s research, is anyone aged 16 or over. The standard travel and tourism definitions used in the terminology of this report are as follows:
Tourism is any travel which involves at least one 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.
Short-haul refers destinations within Europe. The following destinations are considered to be short-haul: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus EU, Cyprus Non-EU, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Other Europe.
Long-haul refers to destinations outside of Europe.
The Canaries are included as a part of the Spanish market, and Madeira and the Azores are included as part of the Portuguese market.
A 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.
In the consumer sections of this report we have two types of package holiday, pure package and dynamic package. These are defined as follows:
Pure package: Travel and accommodation booked together at the same time with only one total price shown (ie no breakdown costs shown).
Dynamic package: Travel and accommodation booked together but separate prices shown for each, or travel and accommodation booked separately but from the same retailer and within 24 hours.
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).
