Holiday company, Thomson, is expecting millions of British holidaymakers to go online during the yearend to plan their 2014 vacation.
Looking ahead, Thomson has predicted the expected destination hotspots and emerging travel trends for British holidaymakers for the next year.
While Mediterranean countries like Greece, Spain and Cyprus remain popular destinations for Brits, Thomson is expecting demand for further away and less known holiday spots in 2014. In the last 12 months, one in five, or 20 percent of web searches, were for long-haul holidays, it said.
In 2013 bookings for Thomson and Thomson Cruise’s long haul destinations increased by 28 percent on the previous year, and this is expected to further increase for 2014. Based on past bookings data, the emerging destinations for Thomson & Thomson Cruises include Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Khao Lak, Thailand; Croatia, Mauritius, Jamaica, Sochi, Russia, Panama, Ukraine, Montenegro and the Roatan, Honduras.
Planning weddings in sunny destinations has been another growing trend over the past decade, a trend that is expected to increase in 2014. Thomson saw an increases of almost 100 percent in the volume of traffic to its Weddings homepage in 2013.
Based on early booking patterns, Thomson predicts that the most popular months for weddings abroad in 2014 will be May and September, besides the traditional wedding months of June, July and August in the UK.
Greece, including its islands, is predicted to be the first choice for families looking for a refreshing and inspiring holiday break next year. Almost a quarter of Greek holidays sold were on a half board basis In 2013, and this is expected to increase in 2014, Thomson said, adding that it will increase its capacity by 9 percent across the country to meet rising demand.
Jeremy Ellis, marketing director at Thomson, said: ‘Understanding where our customers are going and why is key to us delivering the very best holiday experiences. 2013 has seen some interesting trends emerging so we look to 2014 with excitement as we use this knowledge to give our customers the high level of choice and service that they have grown to expect, for an even better holiday in 2014.’
