More and more Brits head for winter sun
This winter will be one of content for British holidaymakers, with 13 million of them planning to spend Christmas away, and many more swapping summer holidays for winter tans.
New research commissioned by discount website MyVoucherCodes.co.uk also shows that a total of 22.3 million Brits will be looking to go on a winter sun holiday this year.
With average spending on summer holidays reaching £1,200, Brits are looking to put more money back in their pockets, following Brexit uncertainties and the consumer squeeze, by heading off for warmer climates over Christmas. The nation will save on average £500 by heading abroad over Christmas compared to summer, spending on average £694 on winter sun holidays per person.
Over half of Brits (57%) are more likely to book a winter holiday now than they were five years ago, with more than a quarter (28%) of parents stating being held captive by rocketing summer holiday prices as one of the main reasons for the switch. Two in five Brits (40%) also say that it’s worth spending £700 on escaping a ‘boring Christmas’ at home and unwanted evenings with relatives and friends.
Escaping the weather
A quarter of Brits (24%) book a winter sun holiday out of boredom of the traditional routine and want a new Christmas and New Year experience. Almost half (45%) say that the cold weather forces them to leave, and one in ten (9%) say they are fed up of early dark nights, which put them in a bad mood.
While concerns over the weather and the urge to try new experiences provide the main motivation for booking a winter sun holiday, the opportunity to try new destinations (18%), finish the year in style (16%) and have a winter tan (9%) have been marked as reasons to leave the traditional summer break behind.
When asked where Brits will be escaping the UK to, Tenerife (30%) is the UK’s most popular winter sun destination, followed by Lanzarote (21%), Florida (17%) and Gran Canaria (15%). All four are long-term timeshare hot-spots and among RCI’s most popular destinations too – the company has 101 resorts in the Canary Islands and 423 in Florida.
The top 10 destinations:
- Tenerife – 30%
- Lanzarote – 21%
- Florida – 17%
- Gran Canaria – 15%
- Australia – 13%
- Dubai – 11%
- Barbados – 9%
- New Zealand – 8%
- Thailand – 7%
- Morocco – 7%
The research has wide-ranging implications for timeshare developers as well as the hospitality industry in general, not least because it suggests that the peak and shoulder seasons could be flattening out, bringing increased demand for bed capacity across Europe all-year-round.
Dimitris Manikis, VP Business Development, RCI EMEA , said: “This research confirms the popularity of many of the key winter sun destinations that have long been popular with RCI members and timeshare owners, but also suggests that demand for holidays from the British market – one of Europe’s largest holiday sales source markets – is starting to level out and becoming less about peaks and troughs.
“We believe resort developers and hospitality operators in Europe should give some thought to this apparent trend and target this market to help reduce the seasonality of their resorts and increase year-round demand.”
