A spike in holiday bookings is not expected to last long, a new survey from Deloitte shows.
The leisure consumer Q1 2017 survey saw more than 3,000 adults respond online to the questions in May.
It revealed that long-haul holiday spending was up by four percentage points while short haul increased by five percentage points.
However, the increases were as a result of comparison to the previous quarter in 2016 as opposed to year on year.
Nor are they expected to last with consumers aged 35-54, who are most likely to have dependent families, saying they expect their holiday spending to be seven percentage points less than last year for long-haul holidays with short-haul holidays down by 8 percentage points in the next quarter.
However, there is one piece of good news in the 55+ market, with long-haul spending expected to increase by five percentage points compared to last year.
The reduction in leisure spending is being mirrored across the board with net decreases visible in restaurants, coffee shops, pubs and even in-home leisure activities such as TV streaming.
Simon Oaten, partner for hospitality and leisure at Deloitte, said: “The focus on health and wellbeing is as expected for the start of the year, with spending falling for eating out and rising for gym and sport-related leisure activities.
“Overall, consumers are continuing to prioritise holidays, which is why spending has increased for both long and short-haul trips.
“The long-term change in consumer behaviour, whereby consumers have favoured spending on experiences over goods, was a key reason for the leisure sector’s continued resilience throughout 2016.
“However, with inflation rising, a weak pound and a slowdown in nominal wage growth, leisure consumers are starting to feel their pockets tighten, leading to a fall in spending on some habitual activities and small luxuries, such as buying the daily coffee.
“Whilst this has yet to result in an actual reduction of overall leisure spending, this trend will be monitored closely.
“The overall health of the sector will be an important economic indicator in the months to come.”