Holiday Extras, a UK-based travel company offering pre-booked hotels and airport parking, has reported a 47 percent increase in airport parking bookings for June 2012, compared to figures achieved in the same period last year.
On April 30 this year, the company registered a record number of parking bookings through its website and through its customer service centre, a 6 percent increase from its previous record number of parking bookings made on April 3, this year.
The increase in parking bookings is thought to indicate a growth in travel bookings in general, and an upward trend in the travel industry. The figures also appear to indicate that vacationing is still a major priority for residents in the UK, despite the financial uncertainty brought about by the credit crunch.
However, the parking bookings do also infer a bargain hunting instinct among holidaymakers, as they aim to pre-book airport parking space to save money. The new survey results show that pre-booking airport parking slots often results in major savings of as much as 60 percent.
Matthew Pack, the company chief executive officer, said, ‘Early figures show that the Olympics are not stopping people booking their holidays for this summer. Holidaymakers are fighting the mood of austerity, which is really positive news for the travel industry.’
There are around 100 different car parks available for booking parking slots in advance, at around 26 airports in the UK. Parking slots are predictably most expensive around the major airports, including Birmingham, East Midlands, Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Manchester and Stansted.