Holiday makers holding out for deals could pay the price

A survey of 25,000 Brits*, conducted by ebookers.com the online travel agent, reveals that many holiday makers haven’t yet booked their summer trips and are holding out for bargain prices. 64% of those surveyed claimed to be planning summer holidays but hadn’t yet made their reservations. 31% had already booked while 4% weren’t taking trips this summer.

The top five hoped for destinations amongst those who haven’t yet booked are LA, New York, Florida, Barcelona and Dubai.

Claire Howard Jones, ebookers.com Head of Marketing, said:

“People are continuing to book late this year but experience shows that last minute bargain hunters will often be disappointed. Smart travellers know the best prices in the travel industry are mostly available to early bookers.

“Bargains can sometimes be found a few days before travel for traditional tour operator packages. With flights and tailor made holidays though, early booking is almost always best.”

This price sensitivity and bargain shopping, perhaps brought on by tightening economic conditions, was further demonstrated by half the sample survey who claim to be influenced in their choice of destination by the strong euro and comparatively weak dollar.

Seaside versus City

The survey results also show that while city breaks might be increasing in popularity, there’s no doubt that Britons still love to be beside the seaside. 62% of those going on holiday are heading off on Sun and Sand trips, their top five destinations being, in order, Florida, California, Spain, Greece and Thailand.

38% are planning urban-centred trips with the top five city break destinations being New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Las Vegas and Barcelona.

Shorter Breaks

The rise in popularity of city breaks and maybe also fears of a credit crunch have brought about increased demand for shorter breaks. Summer is traditionally the time of the fortnight holiday but the ebookers.com survey shows that just 27% are taking two weeks and 22% are taking less than a week.

* The survey, conducted throughout May, was of British-based ebookers.com newsletter subscribers – not all of whom are ebookers.com customers but almost all of whom are interested in travel.

For more information, visit Ebookers.com.