UK travel and tourism sector unlikely to see a winter holiday boost
UK travel agent Butter found that the UK travel and tourism industry is unlikely to see a post-summer boost as holidaymakers continue to sit tight due to Covid-uncertainty
As a nation of sun-seeking holidaymakers, it comes as no surprise that Butter found 85 per cent of UK travellers prefer a summer holiday as opposed to a winter holiday. However, with Covid causing chaos for foreign holidays again this summer.
Despite this, Butter found that of those that didn’t manage to get away this summer, just a further 16 per cent are planning a winter holiday to make up for it, with 84 per cent staying put until next year. Even in winter, sunshine is the main draw for holidaymakers, with 67 per cent stating they will still opt for a sunny destination over a winter holiday option.
Uncertainty dampens appetite for travel
Timothy Davis, Co-Founder and CEO of Butter, commented: “It’s fair to say that, rather than helping to steady the ship, the back-and-forth nature of the traffic light travel classification system has brought even further uncertainty to the travel and tourism industry and arguably done more harm than good.
“A high level of turbulence continues to dampen our appetites for foreign holidays and so a late rally during the autumn and winter months is unlikely to materialise. As a result, the majority of UK holidaymakers have opted for another summer of staycations and unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if they will be changing their minds anytime soon.”