2025
9
UK Holiday Planning and Booking Process Market Report 2025
2025-06-26T08:01:53+00:00
REP4EAF68C1_773C_45AA_AE2E_F4772FDB99A6
2195
184049
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Report
en_GB
Demand for human expertise is steady, with 9% of UK travellers planning to book their main holiday in-store, unchanged from last year. However, as AI becomes more personalised, travel agents…
UK
Holidays and Vacations
simple

UK Holiday Planning and Booking Process Market Report 2025

"Incorporating destination crowdedness and temperature data into holiday planning tools can significantly improve the user experience."

Marloes De Vries, Travel Analyst

Marloes De Vries, Travel Analyst

UK Holiday Booking – Trends and Insights

  • Demand for human expertise in travel remains steady, with 9% of UK travelers planning to book their main holiday in-store, unchanged from last year. However, as AI becomes more personalized, travel agents must work harder to remain competitive.
  • Most UK travelers, particularly younger people and families, plan to spend less on their main holiday this year. To encourage bookings, businesses should emphasize money-saving features and tools.
  • AI can play a key role in helping travelers save money by tracking prices and enabling users to set alerts for deals or price drops on specific destinations and dates.
  • Concerns about crowded destinations are increasing interest in quieter, less tourist-heavy locations, reflecting a shift in traveler preferences.
  • Climate change is influencing travel planning, with travelers becoming more mindful of temperatures. Integrating crowd and temperature data into holiday planning tools can enhance the user experience and meet these evolving needs.

Key Topics Analysed in the Report

  • How the domestic and overseas holiday markets are expected to perform over the next five years
  • Shifts in main holidaying intentions, including plans for UK versus short-haul and long-haul trips and the types of holidays being planned
  • The growing use of smartphones for holiday bookings and strategies for travel agents to remain relevant
  • Consumer interest in search filters on a travel company’s website, such as temperature and destination crowd levels
  • The factors that prompt travellers to begin planning their main holiday
Collapse All
  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • Opportunities for the UK travel market
    • The planning process should be about discovering new destinations
    • Ensure a seamless booking experience for social media users
    • Prioritise family friendliness in listings
    • Market dynamics and outlook
    • Market size & forecast: domestic holidays
    • Market size & forecast: overseas holidays
    • Market predictions
    • Value of domestic holidays set for steady growth
    • Growing demand and rising prices boost value of overseas holiday market
    • Resilient confidence, but concerns remain
    • What consumers want and why
    • End of post-pandemic urge to travel
    • Travellers increasingly turn to smartphone for bookings
    • Graph 1: expected booking channel for main holiday, 2024-25
    • Personalised price alerts will help drive holiday planning
    • Graph 2: triggers to start planning the main holiday, 2025
    • Overtourism and extreme weather will drive interest in crowdedness and climate data
    • Graph 3: interest in filter search options on a travel company’s website, 2025
    • Environmental impact has a higher impact on holiday choice than brand choice
    • Graph 4: importance of environmental impact when choosing a company and when searching a company’s website, 2025
    • Enhancing holiday planning through personalised filters, motivational search and smart technology
    • Innovation and marketing
    • Technological innovations significantly enhance the planning and booking process
    • Travel companies aim to increase bookings for experiences
  2. MARKET DYNAMICS

    • Market size – domestic holidays
    • Rising costs impact demand for staycations, but warm spring weather offers hope for recovery
    • Graph 5: volume of domestic holidays taken by British residents, 2019-25
    • Record-high holiday prices boost staycation market value
    • Graph 6: value of domestic holidays taken by British residents, 2019-25
    • Market size – overseas holidays
    • Demand for holidays abroad continues to increase, albeit at a slower pace
    • Graph 7: volume of overseas holidays taken by UK residents, 2019-25
    • Growing demand and rising prices boost market value
    • Graph 8: value of overseas holidays taken by UK residents, 2019-25
    • Market forecast
    • Forecast – note on US trade disruption
    • Domestic volume will take time to fully recover
    • Value of domestic holidays set for steady growth
    • Overseas holiday volume set to reach new heights, but uncertainty will dampen growth rates in the near term
    • Growing demand and rising prices boost value of overseas holiday market
    • Holidays remain a priority, but cost pressures will impact travel behaviour
    • Market drivers
    • Consumer confidence has increased…
    • Graph 9: the financial confidence index, 2016-25
    • …but many are concerned about future price increases
    • US appeal declines amid geopolitical unrest
    • Graph 10: consumer agreement that the election of Donald Trump as US President makes visiting the US less appealing, 2024-25
    • Climate risks will impact planning and booking process
    • More travellers want companies to take action on overtourism
    • Holiday bookings fail to surpass last year’s levels
    • Graph 11: holiday bookings in the last three months, 2023/24 and 2024/25
    • Booking intent remains comparable to last year
    • Graph 12: plans to book a holiday in the next three months, 2023/24 and 2024/25
    • Regulatory & legislative changes
  3. WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY

    • Main holidaying intentions
    • End of post-pandemic urge to travel
    • Graph 13: planned destination for the main holiday in the next 12 months, 2021-25
    • Travellers are more cautious about booking their holidays.
    • Graph 14: share of travellers who have already booked their main holiday, 2023-25
    • City breaks overtake rural holidays as most popular domestic holiday type
    • Graph 15: expected holiday type for main holiday in the UK, 2021-25
    • Demand for overseas beach holidays and city breaks reaches new heights
    • Graph 16: expected holiday type for main holiday abroad, 2021-25
    • Growing desire for more-diverse travel experiences
    • Graph 17: number of holiday types used to describe main holiday, 2023 vs 2025
    • Holiday booking channels
    • The vast majority of travellers book online
    • Travellers increasingly turn to smartphone for bookings
    • Graph 18: expected booking channel for main holiday, 2024-25
    • Mobile booking can be more user-friendly for older travellers
    • Graph 19: expected booking channel for main holiday, by age, 2025
    • Human expertise remains relevant despite technological innovations
    • Opportunities for travel agents to stay relevant
    • Triggers to start planning a holiday
    • Time of year and family & friends play a huge role in kickstarting holiday plans
    • Keeping travellers informed of personalised deals and offers
    • Younger travellers have a broader range of triggers
    • Graph 20: triggers to start planning the main holiday, by age, 2025
    • Those inspired by social media expect a different search experience
    • Making content in early stages of the planning process bookable
    • Maintaining engagement post-trip will help increase repeat bookings
    • Purchase drivers when choosing a travel company
    • Investing in a simple booking process and good customer service is essential to attract customers
    • Graph 21: important factors when choosing which travel company to book the main holiday with, 2025
    • Technology plays a key role in improving the booking experience
    • Travel brands that do not invest in their app risk losing out on bookings
    • Younger travellers need support in managing expenses
    • Graph 22: important factors when choosing which travel company to book the main holiday with, by age, 2025
    • Environmental impact has a higher impact on holiday choice than brand choice
    • Graph 23: importance of environmental impact when choosing a company and when searching a company’s website, 2025
    • Sustainability information should include social impact
    • Webpage with integrated information on environmental and social impacts, created by Spark
    • Search filter preferences
    • Overtourism and extreme weather will drive interest in crowdedness and climate data
    • Overtourism will increase the need for information about crowdedness
    • Temperature will play an increasingly important role in the decision-making process
    • Widespread interest in filtering by special offers or discounts
    • Graph 24: interest in filter search options on a travel company’s website, 2025
    • Ensuring the right amenities for children is a higher priority than simply finding a good price
    • Graph 25: interest in filter options on a travel company’s website among parents of under-18s, 2025
    • Travel motivation and activities are central to the holiday planning and booking process of younger travellers
    • Providing filter-free search options can significantly improve the planning experience
    • Attitudes towards planning and booking holidays
    • Travellers remain price sensitive
    • Graph 26: consumers who plan to spend less on their main holiday in the next 12 months compared to the previous 12 months, 2024-25
    • Desire to discover new destinations is strong
    • Personalising AI chatbots can improve consumer appreciation
    • Graph 27: interest in AI chatbots, 2025
    • Smart search can engage older travellers in the holiday planning process
    • Graph 28: interest in AI chatbots and smart search, 2025
    • More travellers are looking for Black Friday travel deals, but effectiveness is not yet visible in booking data
    • Customisation options make package holidays more attractive
    • Graph 29: attitudes towards package holidays, 2025
  4. INNOVATION AND MARKETING TRENDS

    • Launch activity and innovation
    • AI-powered personal assistants are born
    • AI innovations impact the planning and booking process
    • Brands continue to strengthen their position in the experiences market
    • Travel agents stay relevant through innovation and growth
    • The different ways brands are helping to reduce the pressure of busy destinations
    • Advertising and marketing activity
    • Advertising expenditure by travel and transport providers declined in 2024
    • Graph 30: travel and transport providers’ total advertising expenditure across the channels tracked by Nielsen Ad Intel, 2022-24
    • TUI and Jet2.com were the biggest ad spenders in 2024
    • Graph 31: top 10 total advertising expenditure by travel and transport providers across the channels tracked by Nielsen Ad Intel, 2024
    • TUI launched the ‘Packed differently’ campaign to highlight benefits of its package holidays
    • loveholidays promotes ease of booking
    • Hays Travel promotes the variety of products available in Hays’ branches
    • Norwegian Cruise Line launches new brand positioning ‘MORE’
  5. APPENDIX

    • Market forecast data and methodology
    • Market size – domestic holidays
    • Market size – overseas holidays
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals – volume of domestic holidays
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals – value of domestic holidays
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals  – volume of overseas holidays
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals –  value of overseas holidays
    • Forecast methodology
    • Report scope and definitions
    • Market definition
    • Abbreviations and terms
    • Consumer research methodology
    • Nielsen Ad Intel coverage

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