That was the finding from Barclaycard in its first Spend bulletin, which noted a particular emphasis on European destinations for holidaying Brits this year, as the pound remained strong against the euro.
More than 40% of the UK’s retail credit and debit card transactions are processed by Barclaycard every month, with the company able to use this data to analyse customer’s spending – and holiday – habits.
It noted that this summer, more customers were favouring cities on the continent, including Paris, which ranked number three in the top 10 list, Dublin (number four), Rome (number five), Amsterdam (number six), Berlin (number eight) and Lisbon (number 10).
Outside Europe, New York proved popular, ranking second in the top 10, up from three last year, while Dubai crept up to number seven –
up from nine in the list last year.
Interestingly Turkey also featured in the top 10, specifically Mugla, the province in which Bodrum lies, despite concerns from operators
that the war in neighbouring Syria could negatively impact sales.
Greece however, failed to make the top 10, suggesting that Brits remain wary of the economic situation in the country. Barclaycard confirmed that uncertainty about Greece’s future in the eurozone was making it less attractive as a holiday destination, with spending there
by British tourists down by a fifth last month, compared with the previous year.
It comes as Barclaycard noted a general increase in spending on holidays, with spending on travel overall – including air fares, hotels and spending when abroad – up 7.5% in the first six months of the year. This compared with 2.4% over the same period last year.
Spending while abroad – specifically on food, drink and shopping – was also up 13% this year. Hotel spend was also up 7.8%, compared with 4.5% in 2014, on the back of a 10.3% rise in the number of bookings made, Barclaycard said.
“The strength of the pound against the euro has helped the top of the table to remain dominated by European destinations,” said Chris Wood, chief operating officer at Barclaycard.
“Spending growth of 13% year-on-year in the early part of the summer shows that consumers are becoming much more comfortable spending money on overseas holidays, which is also great news for the travel industry. With the UK’s economic recovery appearing now to be firmly established, households are looking increasingly to spend more on themselves and their families.”
The news comes a month after Barclaycard found that consumer spending grew 4.5% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2015 – the highest in three years, with June alone seeing a growth of 4.9%.
In particular, spending on travel grew 8.4% in the second quarter of 2015 – its highest level since the second quarter of 2013. Within this, spending on hotels rose 6.9% and grew 4.1% on airlines.
It wasn’t just European destinations that benefited this summer though. Economic uncertainty in the eurozone and doubts around security when holidaying abroad prompted 26% of holidaymakers to stay at home with a UK staycation instead.
The company also analysed spend on various industries. It noted that average amount of money spent year-on-year with travel agents was up 11% year-on-year. The average transactional value spent with agents also rose significantly, by 48.8%.
