2014 sees increase in early bird booking

Weeks and months of bad weather, storm after storm, has led Brits to look forward to their summer holiday earlier than usual.

While January and February are always popular months for holiday bookings, ABTA has revealed that Brits are booking even earlier than usual this year. Some companies have reported an increase of 10% in sales year-on-year.

Early bird booking has a number of benefits, something that a growing number of Brits are becoming aware of. Research from the end of last year found more people had booked their summer break earlier than in 2012. Over a quarter (27%) said that they had booked further in advance, just over half (53%) didn’t change when they book, and only 20% admitted they had booked later.

Those seeking good deals have often been encouraged to leave booking until the last minute, but times have changed, with early bird prices often better value. As a result, more than six in 10 said that cheap prices were the main motivation for booking earlier.

With savings encouraging holidaymakers to turn into early birds, it makes sense that the younger generation are the most like to book in advance. Nearly half (48%) of all people aged between 16 and 24 years booked their 2013 holiday earlier than in the year before. Young families are also more likely to book early, with 41% booking in advance. This is likely to be down to the offers available, such as low deposits and free child places.

It is also possible to make savings by investing in family travel insurance, rather than individual policies. The rest of the early birds cited better availability (49%), better choice (33%) and ability to take time off work (26%) as their reason for booking in advance. Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive said: “We are cautiously optimistic about holiday bookings in 2014 so it’s very encouraging to see a strong start to the year and we are also pleased that more consumers appear to understand why it’s important to book early.”

Date Created: 24/01/2014