Major travel companies are seeing “some shift” in bookings towards the mid-season, but it is not clear whether this is due to climate change or the rising cost of summer holidays.
Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, told the ABTA conference in Calvia:
“I’m not sure there’s a huge shift towards cooler destinations; there is a shift towards the mid-season, but I don’t know if that’s climate-related or cost-related.”
Neil Swanson, CEO of TUI UK, sees similar trends, noting that many families are now choosing to travel during the Easter or autumn holidays, around the main summer season.
However, he stressed, “we are not yet seeing a massive shift in preferences. Families are moving slightly to the off-peak periods, but the Mediterranean is still the favourite for the summer.”
Both leaders agreed that it is difficult to distinguish whether these changes are due to the increasing heat of the summer months or simply to prices being lower off-peak.
Sustainability remains a secondary priority for travellers
At the same time, Hippi admitted that sustainability concerns do not yet seem to be significantly influencing customer behaviour.
Jet2holidays allows users to search for “green” hotels on its website, but – as he said – “the number of those who do so remains very small.”
“People are interested in sustainability, but when you ask whether they will pay more, the answer is ‘no’. Times are tough; people just want to get away and have a holiday. Environmental concerns are rather low on their list of priorities,” added Steve Heapy.
For his part, Neil Swanson stressed the importance of working with local communities and supporting local economies:
“It’s really important for us to work with local communities – to hire people from there and to source food from the region.”
