Following a challenging 2024, marked by an uneven recovery from the cost of living crisis, the travel sector is experiencing a resurgence. A recovery in summer travel was largely fuelled by the Millennial segment, while travel intent also ticked up for winter holidays, suggesting ongoing demand for off-peak travel.
Slow economic growth and uncertainties in the run-up to the November Budget continue to cast a shadow over future spending plans, leading consumers to increasingly favour short-term plans over long-term commitments. This continues to weigh on demand for domestic travel, which remains flat for both the summer and winter seasons, although the UK does remain a popular destination for family holidays.
The highlight of the holiday market remains overseas travel, which has driven the resurgence in both summer holidays and winter holiday intentions. Consumers are also more likely to prefer multiple holidays over one expensive break, signalling future growth potential for the short-haul category.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Holiday destinations and types of holidays taken between April-September 2025
- Destinations consumers plan to visit and considered holiday types between October 2025-March 2026
- Importance of holidays for both physical and mental health
- Value-seeking consumer behaviour in terms of holiday length and term-time travel
- Projections for the future of travel, specifically focusing on the role of AI agents
Travel demand has strengthened from 2024, especially for overseas destinations. Brands must emphasise the transformative benefits of travel to drive spend.
Sinead O'Connor, Travel Analyst
Market Definitions
This Report examines the habits and attitudes of British adults aged 16 or over towards holiday-taking in the UK and abroad. For the purposes of this Report, Mintel defined a holiday as a stay of at least one night that is primarily for leisure purposes. Business trips and visiting friends or relatives are not included.
This is a bi-annual series, with the next edition due out in May 2026.
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery Office and the King’s Printer for Scotland.
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Opportunities for the travel industry
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HOLIDAYS TAKEN IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS
- Summer travel returns to growth
- Graph 1: destinations visited between April and September, 2023-25
- Short-haul summer holidays appeal
- Graph 2: destinations visited between April and September, 2024-25
- Trending overseas destinations
- Beach and city breaks remain the first choice for summer
- Graph 3: types of holiday taken between April and September, 2024-25
- Summer cruise participation widens
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HOLIDAYS PLANNED FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS
- Two thirds of Brits have off-peak travel plans
- Graph 4: holidays planned between October and March, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26
- More Brits plan to travel overseas than domestically
- Graph 5: holidays planned between October and March, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26
- Families embrace long-haul winter travel
- Off-peak city breaks are increasingly popular
- Graph 6: types of holiday between October and March, 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26
- Camping/caravanning and ski-sports breaks appeal to higher earners
- Graph 7: types of holiday between October and March, by household income, 2025/26
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HOLIDAYING BEHAVIOURS AND INTENTIONS
- Holidays and wellness
- Holidays are a wellness priority
- Exercise should be part of the journey
- Graph 8: attitudes and behaviours towards holidays – keeping fit while on holiday is important to me, 2025
- Value-seeking behaviours
- Younger demographics are more willing to splash out for a big trip
- Graph 9: select attitudes and behaviours towards holidays – I would rather spend their annual holiday budget on one more expensive holiday than on a few lower cost holidays, by age, 2025
- Term-time holidays are the norm
- Consumers are split on the benefits of last-minute deals
- Graph 10: select attitudes and behaviours towards holidays, 2025
- Agentic AI and the future of travel
- Prepare for an Agentic future
- Graph 11: select attitudes and behaviours towards holidays, 2025
- Agentic battle heats up
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APPENDIX
- Market definition
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
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