1.8 Million UK Holidaymakers Take Advantage of August Bank Holiday Deals

According to estimates by the British Travel Association, 1.8 million British travellers left the country this August Bank Holiday.

(PRWeb UK) September 6, 2010

The British Travel Association has revealed statistics on the number of people to have travelled abroad over the August Bank Holiday weekend, with 1.8 million British holidaymakers departing the country, 420,000 from Heathrow alone. Despite the recent collapse of several cut-rate travel firms, numbers remain stable on last year as holidaymakers are still taking advantage of the relative abundance of cheap holidays across the market, with many suppliers cutting prices in reaction to competition from destinations outside the Eurozone.

“Trends haven’t changed much since this time last year, with holidays in Greece, Spain and Turkey remaining the most popular destinations for British travellers,” says Thomas Kempster, Director of holiday experts Packyourbags.com. “While the average price of these destinations has risen based on last year’s numbers, this is due in part to increased growth in the all-inclusive and cruise sectors, in addition to a slight increase in average holiday duration.”

While the number of travellers is down on 2009’s 1.9 million total, industry insiders claim the dip was expected, with lingering threats of industrial action coupled with fears over recent supplier collapses cutting into August’s traditional late deals market. Meanwhile, official booking data collated by analysts GfK Ascent is seen to indicate changing trends for 2011.

“One trend highlighted in the data and one that we expect to continue for next summer is the rise of the METT – non-Eurozone destinations like Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey. Sales of Turkey holidays are likely to see a significant spike as the media continues to hammer home their value in comparison to Greece.”

Information for editors
Packyourbags.com was founded in 2001, an early mover onto the internet offering cheap holidays to a variety of European destinations. It has since broadened its product offering to include destinations outside Europe including the Maldives and the Caribbean.
The business is founded on providing affordable holidays to popular destinations, employing knowledgeable, friendly staff and delivering quality advice. The end result is a service that combines internet technology and low costs with the kind of personal service found on the high street. A healthy percentage of repeat customers testifies to their success.

The CTT Group, Packyourbags.com's owners, turn over more than £13m a year and employs more than 40 people, across three locations in Tunbridge Wells and one in south Wales. Because the company is fully bonded and licensed with ABTA, ATOL & IATA everything sold is fully licensed and protected.

###