Holidays to Florida and Thailand are cheaper than the same break in Spain, as terrorism fears and concerns about Greece force change in British holidays
Terrorism and lingering fears about the political climate in Greece are causing unprecedented changes to the cost of holidays, new research suggests.
The cost of short haul destinations such as Ibiza and Menorca has risen as Britons seek out "safe" holiday destinations, shunning the likes of Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia.
That means that longer-haul holidays, such as Thailand or America, are starting to look relatively cheap, according to TravelSupermarket.
The group estimates that a four-star room-only fortnight in Ibiza for a family of four comes in at £3.147, while the equivalent holiday in Phuket, Thailand is £142 cheaper. To take the same break in Orlando was £16 cheaper.
Bob Atkinson, spokesman for TravelSupermarket, said he hadn't seen such a closeness in prices for the summer holidays in some time.
“The similarity of prices for some Western Med destinations and exotic lovelies like Thailand is unprecedented," he explained. “I can’t remember a year in travel like this.
"We’ve seen massive changes in where people are interested in going year on year and this is putting increasing pressure on finding the holiday that you want. Many Brits are turning their backs on some of the beach areas that have been firm and rising favourites like Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, and to some extent, Greece as well.
"Instead, British holiday-makers are embracing familiar stalwarts. In fact, more than a third of all summer sun searches have been for Spain. However, this means prices of flights and package holidays to many popular destinations there – and to Portugal – during the school hols are already very expensive."
The travel price comparison website has seen an increase of 54 per cent year on year in searches to mainland Spain for this summer.
Earlier this week Thomas Cook noted that it was still seeing a marked difference in consumer habits, with holiday-makers leaving their bookings to the last minute and much lower demand for usual favourite destinations such as Turkey, in favour of the Western Meditterrean.
EasyJet has also noticed a knock-on effect from terrorist attacks in places like Sharm-el-Sheikh and Paris, saying demand has been dampened since.