Winter and Festive Travel 2009-2010: Are Brits giving the UK the cold shoulder? by Harry Thompson

A noticeable increase of interest in winter holiday destinations over the past few months is suggesting that Brits are choosing to give the UK the cold shoulder this winter. Indeed, as reported by Holidays-Direct.co.uk, many Brits are simply not putting up with the doom and gloom this year, choosing instead to jet off to the sun and make up for what was yet another dismal summer. Things are also looking bright for the ski industry which enjoyed huge amounts of early snowfall during September and October and has already seen bookings up on last year. The general consensus within the travel industry for the winter of 2009/2010 is one of 'cautious optimism.'
New travel site, hotelly.com, has seen a significant increase in Brits looking to escape the impending winter blues with 41 per cent of users opting to get away in October. According to Vishal Jain, Director at Hotelly.com, this is the direct result of Brits taking a 'stay-cation' in the summer and being let down by the weather: ''our site has seen a large amount of users searching for pre-Christmas beach holidays.... For a lot of people it was a lousy summer and they want to make up for it now.'' Jain also mentioned that ''it's no surprise that people are snapping up these best value deals to winter sun locations - we expect this to continue well into the New Year.'' Thomas Cook has also reported a marked increase in winter bookings for the forthcoming season. As reported on travelweekly.co.uk, although the cumulative bookings are 11% behind last year, during November there was only a 1% drop in bookings from the year before whilst, in the same month, the operator had seen a 6% increase in the average selling price following a 9% cut in capacity for the season. Chief executive, Manny Fontenla-Novoa, said: ''Looking ahead, the late booking trend is still evident, but our winter 09/10 trading position continues to improve and trend towards our planned capacity.''
The top destinations booked so far this winter, according to Holidays-Direct.co.uk and Hotelly.com, are Egypt, the Canary Islands, India, the Caribbean, Dubai and Turkey. Holidaymakers are continuing to avoid the Eurozone, preferring instead to seek out the best deals and exchange rates a bit further a field. The Caribbean has been named as a particularly popular destination this winter by Alistair Daly, marketing officer at On The Beach, with sales of East Caribbean dollars shooting up by 70 per cent in October. In fact, as reported by Hayes and Jarvis, sales have improved to most dollar destinations and American resorts are also set to be popular for holidaying Brits. Furthermore, Brits are expected to take longer breaks this winter to really make the most of their money, with figures from On The Beach revealing that the average stay is up to nine nights, from seven in 2008.
The Ski industry has also begun the season extremely positively with huge amounts of snowfall and bookings already up on last year. According to Craig Burton of specialist agency ifyouski.com: ''last year, autumn was very flat as the credit crunch bit hard and the market for ski holidays collapsed. This year's better... Looking forward, I think it is inevitable that we will see a very busy 'lates' period once again, though there will not be the same level of discounting and choice as last year.'' Tour operators have indeed insisted that they will not be offering the two for one ski holidays and super discounts that were available last year although big operators, such as TVI, which runs Crystal, First Choice and Thomson, have announced 40% cuts on chalet accommodation. Also, 'all inclusive' ski holidays that incorporate some or all of the in-resort costs (lift passes, rental and ski school) are becoming increasingly popular this season and are being promoted by most operators. They are in fact so popular that market-leader Crystal has extended its range to reach resorts in Austria, France, Switzerland, Slovenia and North America, with prices from £469 including lift pass and rentals.
The big news this winter will of course be in Canada where the Winter Olympics are kicking off in less than three months time. Packages are available through exclusive UK agents Sportsworld, as appointed by the British Olympic Association. For those of us looking for somewhere closer to home however, Scotland, with a second year of good snowfall and the weak pound, is looking increasingly appealing to both Britons and foreigners. With a six day lift pass costing just £105 this winter and the current exchange rates as they are, it is a considerably cheaper alternative to the Alps and even 'budget' destinations such as Bulgaria. It is also easily accessible, with Aviemore and Fort William still served by sleeper trains if you want to wake up in the mountains ready to ski. Maybe Scotland will be the place to ski this year; Haggis and neeps on the piste does seem, quirkily, rather an attractive proposition after all!
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About the Author
Harry Thompson is the author of 'Winter and Festive Travel 2009-2010: Are Brits giving the UK the cold shoulder?' the first in Exchange-Currency.com's series of topical articles analysing the state of the Travel and Tourism Industry. For more information please contact admin@exchange-currency.com or view the site at http://www.exchange-currency.com. Read the original article at http://www.exchange-currency.com/index.php/news/winter-and-festive-travel-2009-2010.html