Last week, Jon Platt, who had taken his daughter to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, challenged a £120 fine in the High Court and won. Judges decided his daughter had attended school “regularly” and ruled that because of this, there was no case to answer despite her having missed seven days of schooling. Judges did not, however, clarify what regular attendance amounted to.

The ruling led to speculation that many more parents will book holidays outside of the main school breaks, smoothing price spikes that are pronounced in July and August.

However, an Abta spokesperson said this was unlikely to be the case: “We don’t expect that this new judgment will have any significant impact on pricing as it would not fundamentally address the issues of supply and demand during school holidays,” the association said.

Abta still wants the government, local authorities and schools to stagger holiday dates by area or region, which is the case in many other European countries. “This would help to flatten out the extreme spikes caused by intense increases in demand in July and August, and encourage more travel in June and September when demand is lower and the weather in western Europe is ideal for families,” Abta said.

Tony Seaman, group chief operating officer at Attraction World, which specialises in Florida tickets, predicted any change in booking patterns would be “a slow burn”.

“This has not changed the world – we’re not going to get families saying ‘great!’ just because one bloke has done it,” he predicted. He said a 10-week staggered summer peak was preferable: “Tour operators get a bad press – if you’re a contractor, you have to buy beds in June and September and you make a loss. This would help ease the pressure on operators to make money in that time,” he said.

The High Court ruling means local authorities will be less inclined to apply rules introduced in 2006. These let head teachers permit a holiday of up to 10 days in “special circumstances” and for more than 10 days in “exceptional circumstances”. In 2013, references to family holidays were removed and head teachers told to give permission only in exceptional circumstances, with fines of £60.

No fines are levied in Scotland or Northern Ireland, while in Wales families can take up to 10 days with the head’s permission.