UK Christmas travellers will fork out £1bn this year, and the cost of holidays is on the rise for 2017
More than a million Brits are set to jet off over the Christmas period this year, spending £1.03bn altogether despite holiday prices being on the rise.
The average Christmas traveller will spend £757.43, but a quarter will spend between £1,001 and £2,000, research from Direct Line Travel Insurance suggests.
The top destinations among travellers this year were Spain (19 per cent), the US (10 per cent) and France (seven per cent).
Read more: Greater devolution could boost English tourism and encourage staycations
While 31 per cent were flying off to visit family, one in 10 were leaving the country to avoid theirs.
Thankfully, UK travellers are committed to keeping British traditions safely intact, with 32 per cent still planning to cook a traditional Christmas dinner, a fifth lugging along clothing like Christmas jumpers, 16 per cent slipping tea bags in their carry-on and 10 per cent bringing mince pies.
The price of travel is set to go up in 2017, travel deal company Travelzoo has warned.
Four in five travel companies surveyed by the Travelzoo are expecting to hike holiday prices by at least 10 per cent in 2017.
The culprits? Continued uncertainty over Brexit, the weak pound, the rising cost of oil and ongoing geopolitical events.
Read more: More Britons will travel for Christmas and New Year than ever before
Joel Brandon-Bravo, managing director of Travelzoo UK, said the impact of sterling’s fall hasn’t been felt by the travel sector yet, but the tide is starting to turn.
He said:
Until now British travel companies have been absorbing some price increases on costs such as hotel rates set in euros, and many have been selling holidays at prices set before the June referendum. Businesses cannot do this indefinitely however, and we expect pricing for next year’s holidays to increase by at least 10 per cent.