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Independent Travel More Popular Than Package Holidays

Thu, 22 Mar 2007

With news of the imminent merging of Britain’s two biggest tour operators it seems that the decline of the package holiday is ever increasing, with consumers preferring independent travel instead.

Thomson holidays have been forced to take over First Choice due to a rise in travellers booking their own holiday flights and lets.

This move follows a similar process by German-owned Thomas Cook and their integration with MyTravel .

Research firm Mintel conducted a recent study, which estimates that over the next five years the package holiday market will reduce by one per cent.

In contrast the independent holidays market is forecast to grow a massive 45 per cent, with expenditure estimated to reach a value in excess of £21 billion by 2009 – a rise of 78 per cent.

During the 1990’s more than 20 million package holidays were being sold each year but this year’s figure is expected to be less than 16 million, according to the The Daily Mail newspaper.

A spokesman for the British Market Research Bureau told the paper, "Online holiday booking has seen a dramatic increase and the ease of booking one's holiday online makes it a cheaper and quicker alternative than visiting a travel agent ."

He added, "With Britain embracing low cost airlines, it is now possible for people to visit alternative holiday destinations such as Eastern Europe ."

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