Package holidays to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey soar in price
The top five destinations in order of most searched are: Spain, Greece, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Portugal. They have all seen price rises.Trips to the UAE have seen the biggest jump, up 26% from £1,210 in August 2024 to £1,525 this year. Cyprus had the next biggest rise and came in at number nine in terms of search popularity.The figures are based on online searches, made on TravelSupermarket from 18 April to 17 June, for all-inclusive, seven-night family holidays in August 2024 and 2025.While this snapshot of data reveals a general trend, costs will vary depending on exactly where a family goes and when they book.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of travel agent industry group Advantage Travel Partnership, said the price rises were down to a number of factors."These increases simply keep pace with the broader cost of doing business and reflect the reality of higher operational costs, from increased energy bills affecting hotels, to elevated food costs impacting restaurants and rising wages across the hospitality sector," she said.But she added the group had seen evidence that some holidaymakers still had money to spend. Some customers were upgrading to more premium all-inclusive packages and booking more expensive cabin seats on long-haul flights to locations such as Dubai, she said.
Holiday destinations are a frequent topic of conversation at the hairdressers.At Voodou in Liverpool, Ellie Mooney talked to us as she got a last-minute trim before jetting off to Turkey."We've been going for the past 20 years or so. We normally book a year ahead then save up in dribs and drabs," she said.Hope Curran, 21, was getting her highlights done and she and her partner had just got back from holiday in Rhodes in Greece."We did an all-inclusive trip because it was a bit more manageable, but it's not cheap," she said.
End of life care nurse Francesca Ramsden, 35, from Rossendale, has made it her mission to cut the cost of holidays, saving where she can and hunting for a bargain at every turn."My husband is sick of me, he'll ask 'have you found anything yet' and I'll say no, rocking in the corner after looking for 10,000 hours."The longest I've booked a holiday in advance is two to three months and I find that the closer you get, the cheaper it is."She said she spent hours trying to save as much as possible on a May half-term break to Fuerte Ventura for her family of four which came in at £1,600.She now shares her budgeting tips on social media."I've mastered the art of packing a week's worth of clothes into a backpack. I always book the earliest or latest flight I can, and midweek when it's cheaper."
Luke Fitzpatrick, a travel consultant at Perfect Getaways in Liverpool, said people were cutting the length of their holidays to save money."Last year we did a lot for 10 nights and this year we've got a lot of people dropping to four or seven nights, just a short little weekend vacation, just getting away in the sun," he said.He has also seen more people choosing to wait until the last minute to book a trip away. "People are coming in with their suitcases asking if they can go away today or tomorrow," he added."Yesterday we had a couple come in with their passports and we got them on a flight last night from Liverpool to Turkey."
How to save money on your holiday
Choose a cheaper location. A UK holiday eliminates travel and currency costs, but overseas destinations vary a lot tooTo decide whether all-inclusive will save you money, first look at local costs for eating out and don't forget about drinks and airport transfersTravel outside the school holidays if you canBooking early can help, especially if you have to travel at peak timesCheck whether you can get a cheaper flight by travelling mid-weekHaggle. Call the travel agent to see if they can better the price you found onlineChoose destinations where the value of the pound is strong. This year that includes Turkey, Bulgaria and PortugalSource: Which? and TravelSupermarket
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