The research suggests luxury travel during the shoulder seasons is on the rise, as more UK customers seek to holiday in milder weather and quieter settings.
Globetrender published its annual travel trends report for 2024 this month, collaborating with British Airways Holidays to track the changing habits and trends transforming the way consumers travel.
The agency’s 24-page study has unveiled a number of key findings about how people are engaging with the industry, including an increase in "season stretching" when it comes to booking trips abroad.
Customer searches for travel in May and June 2024 were double that of July and August 2024, according to BA.com, suggesting a clear preference for getaways earlier in the summer season.
“In 2024 and beyond, I predict some people will book trips to the southern Mediterranean in spring or autumn, rather than peak summer,” Lucy Thackray, freelance travel journalist, told Globetrender.
This belief was echoed by Shannon Knapp, president and chief executive officer of Leading Hotels of the World, whose collection of 400 luxury hotels has seen the most business in April, May, June and October.
“The shoulder season booking volume at our hotels on the Balearic Islands, for example, have increased over 40% year-over-year,” she said, adding that Scandinavia is also becoming a popular destination for summer travellers.
“We’re seeing Sweden and Norway up 34% and 24%, respectively, year-over-year. One of our hotels, the Britannia in Norway, was telling us that there’s great demand for this idea of summering in the Nordics as opposed to being on the beach at the Med.”
Globetrender also found that this increased interest in shoulder season travel has prompted suppliers, including hotels and airlines, to expand their booking windows.
British Airways has extended its summer season flight schedule to Bodrum (starting from the end of April in 2024 instead of the end of May), as well as Corfu, which now starts at the end of March.
It has also begun operating flights from Gatwick to Agadir in Morocco, and reinstated flights from Stansted, opening up connections to Ibiza, Florence and Nice from May 2024.
