ForwardKeys says that year-to-date tickets issued for international half-term travel from the UK are currently just 6 pc behind the comparative period in 2019 and 37 pc ahead of last year
Spanish travel data aggregator and analyst ForwardKeys has predicted a robust United Kingdom outbound travel market for this autumn half-term holiday period.
In a press statement, ForwardKeys says that year-to-date tickets issued for international half-term travel from the UK are currently just 6 pc behind the comparative period in 2019 and 37 pc ahead of last year.
The firm adds that intra-regional travel is up 30 pc ahead of last year and 11 pc ahead of 2019, says the report. Top performing destinations can be found in southern European destinations like Spain, with an upswing of 43 pc, Italy up by 15 pc, Portugal by 41 pc and Greece by 62 pc.
ForwardKeys says that long-haul travel from the UK has risen by 46 pc ahead of last year and is just 16 pc behind 2019. Key destinations like the USA are behind 2019 levels by 27 pc and the UAE by 14 pc.
The report says India has gained market share versus 2019 to become the second largest long-haul destination, with a 20 pc growth on 2019 volumes while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also performing very strongly, moving from the 12th largest destination in 2019 to 4th in 2023.
Luis Millan
“In Q1, tickets for travelling this upcoming autumn half-term were 11 pc behind where they were in the same moment in 2019, whilst in Q2 tickets were just 4 pc behind highlighting an acceleration in recovery as we get closer to the travel dates,” says Luis Millan, Head of Research at ForwardKeys.
ForwardKeys says when looking at the lead times of historical departures year-to-date the data shows that British holidaymakers are booking with longer anticipation this year, compared with both 2019 and 2022. About 31 pc of departures had over 90 days booking window, compared with just 24 pc in 2019 and 28 pc in 2022.
The travel analytics firm says the 30–89-day window remains crucial, with a 37 pc share in 2023, compared with a 38 pc share in both 2019 and 2022. However, almost a third of all bookings tend to materialise in the last 30 days before the holiday period.
“That said, we are still ahead of the crucial period for booking, with a substantial share of bookings set to happen these weeks, as seen both in 2019 and 2022,” adds Millan.
“ForwardKeys’ latest research shows how booking patterns vary depending on holiday periods and markets, highlighting how thanks to data, businesses can make the most of,” says Millan.
