30 October 2023 , 00:01
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Battered Brits are still raring to go on getaways abroad despite a 2023 triple whammy from the cost of living crisis, climate change excessive heat and wildfires, and air traffic control chaos.
A new Travel Confidence Index reveals that six out of 10 UK holidaymakers are either ‘extremely confident’ or ‘somewhat confident’ about going overseas.
Just two out of 10 people told researchers they were ‘not at all confident’ or ‘less confident’, with a neutral 19% giving an index score of +41 for the UK population overall.
Produced by travel association ABTA ahead of its 2023 convention, which opens in Bodrum, Turkey, tomorrow [TUE31], the index was calculated by asking travellers how confident they are about going overseas, then subtracting the percentage of negatives (rating 1-4 on the scale) from the percentage of positives (rating 7-10). Neutrals rating 5-6 were not counted.
Notable confidence scores came from Brits who had booked a package (+70) and via a travel agency (+72), with younger holidaymakers aged 25-34 (+53) and families (+52) also rating well.
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Over 65s were among those feeling less confident to travel than average, at +33.
Researchers also asked holidaymakers for a list of potential ‘confidence boosters’ when travelling overseas with the top-rated being a valid passport and/or visa (67%) and taking out travel insurance (54%).
The role of package holidays was also key with 53% of respondents rating being able to get home if their travel company goes bust as essential, followed by half (49%) knowing the total price in advance and having financial protection (also 49%).
Graeme Buck, Director of Communications at ABTA, said: “By launching our Travel Confidence Index, we plan to provide an annual measure of how confident people are feeling about overseas travel and why, so the industry can capitalise on positive sentiment.
“Given the extreme heat and wildfires in some holiday destinations this year, and that the NATS [air traffic control] outage happened during the period in which we interviewed respondents, a score of +41 does show some remarkable positivity among the UK population.”
The Travel Confidence Index will be debated at the Convention on Wednesday.
Comment by Travel Editor Nigel Thompson
There is a degree of ‘well they would say that, wouldn’t they?’ to this research from Abta. But overall it’s good news to see that the enthusiasm and resilience of the travelling British public remains very much intact in the face of a frankly bewildering series of post-Covid holiday obstacles.
The British travel industry is a sector employing hundreds of thousands of people and pouring billions into the nation’s coffers. It was woefully treated by the government during the pandemic - which left much of it on its knees - so it is also welcome news to see it is on the up again.
Hard-working Brits love a holiday, don’t surrender it easily and there’s a resurgent, professional travel trade ready to take us near and far.