ABTA analyses holiday habits

The Association of British Travel Agents has analysed the online booking habits of UK holidaymakers in its 2013 ABTA Consumer Trends Survey, which shows that 49 per cent of British travellers booked a holiday abroad online over the last year, fractionally up from the 48 per cent who booked online the year before. Ninety-six per cent of those who booked a holiday online used either a PC or a laptop, while 20 per cent used a mobile phone or tablet – and tablet bookings grew among the over-65s age group, with seven per cent of this demographic using the device in 2013 compared with less than one per cent in 2012. “The important lesson for travel businesses is that they need to understand their customers’ needs,” said Victoria Bacon, ABTA’s head of communications, “and build an integrated sales and marketing strategy to ensure they meet these needs, whatever stage of the researching and booking process customers may be at.”

In terms of the holidays being booked, city breaks increased in popularity, with 41 per cent of people booking them – the same as booked beach holidays. Those aged between 25 and 34 were most enthusiastic about city breaks, while 16 to 24-year-olds were more keen on beach holidays – this latter, younger generation generally took the most holidays per person, and also displayed the most variety in terms of the kinds of trips they booked, with sporting holidays, winter sports holidays and music-related trips also registering popularity. “The range of options and activities on offer for consumers grows year by year,” commented Bacon. “It’s encouraging that so many consumers are also looking at other types of holiday for 2014, including cruise, coach, train and activity holidays. This offers great opportunities for travel agents and operators … [to] provide tailored and differentiated products that might be more difficult and time consuming for consumers to research and book independently.”

Other findings from the survey showed that younger travellers were more likely to book via a high street travel agent than older generations, that 44 to 64-year-olds enjoyed the experience of using a tour operator, and that general holiday booking and direct booking websites continue to perform strongly.