UK travel bosses see no real shift to cooler holiday destinations
Extreme heat in Europe has not sent many British tourists to cooler spots, the Guardian reported from an Abta trade event. Garry Wilson, who runs easyJet Holidays, said people still want to go to Majorca, the Guardian and TTG said. Tui said few people changed their trips when Tunisia was set to hit 45C, the Guardian said.
Extreme heat in Europe this summer has not changed where most British holidaymakers want to go, travel executives said at the Abta travel convention in Madeira, the Guardian reported.
Talk of trips to cooler northern places "cuts little ice" among the big travel firms, the Guardian reported. "We're not seeing any of that," said Neil Swanson, the UK and Ireland managing director of Tui. "Nothing's changed, the destinations are the same." When Tunisia was forecast to have a 10-day stretch of 45C temperatures this summer, Tui offered customers the chance to switch their holiday, but Swanson said, "We didn't get the interest and take-up," according to the Guardian.
Garry Wilson, chief executive of easyJet Holidays, said he had not seen much evidence of a real trend toward cooler destinations, TTG reported. "It would make a neat story, but for us, it isn't reality at the moment," Wilson said, according to TTG. Pointing to easyJet routes to Tromsø in Norway and Malmö in Sweden, Wilson said, "we send more customers to Majorca in a week than those in a year," the Guardian reported. TTG reported that Wilson sees Spain as "a bit overheated in terms of capacity" and expects North Africa to grow more popular because it offers value for money.
The bigger worries are costs. "Fuel is a huge part of any holiday and people are going to have to reckon with the cost," Swanson said, according to the Guardian. Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, said, "The bigger worry is the squeeze on household incomes that's going to come through their domestic costs," the Guardian reported. Wilson warned that rising costs are likely to push fares even higher next year, TTG reported.
Some firms are changing their plans. James Thornton, chief executive of Intrepid Travel, said the company no longer sells active group tours in southern Europe in summer because few people wanted to trek or cycle in that heat, the Guardian reported.
What we know: Leaders at Tui and easyJet Holidays say the heat has not shifted demand toward cooler destinations, while fuel and living costs weigh on prices.
What we don't: Whether hotter summers will change where Britons book in the longer term.
Where outlets agree The Guardian and TTG report that easyJet Holidays chief Garry Wilson sees no real shift toward cooler destinations and says customers still want to go to Majorca.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.