A survey of 1,000 customers, on behalf of financial firm RSM UK, found 38% were planning to take that break overseas, up from 30% last year.
Families were the most likely group to travel in 2023, with 75% saying they would go on holiday this year, while 2023 looks set to be the year those aged 55-64, in particular, regain their confidence and optimism to travel following the pandemic.
The survey found just 14% of consumers planned to cut back on short stay trips of one to four days over the next three months, and 10% planned to cut back on long stay holidays of five days or more.
This is in contrast to other activities such as eating and drinking out, where 40% of consumers plan to cut back, and takeaways and deliveries, with 34% saying they will cut back on these.
When looking at the income of respondents, every income bracket increased their plans to take long or short stay trips overseas this year when compared to 2022.
However, there were discrepancies between the plans of high-income households and low-income households. Of those earning £60,000 or more per year, 54% said they were planning a long stay trip overseas in the next 12 months, dropping to 22% for those earning £20,000 or less per year.
For short-stay breaks overseas, 44% of high-income households said they planned to take a trip in the next 12 months, fall by four times to 11% for low-income households.
Ian Bell, partner and head of travel and tourism at RSM UK, said: ‘It’s clear that there is pent up demand – consumers are itching to get away and escape current doom and gloom after facing numerous Covid-related restrictions over the past couple of years; and not even the cost of living crisis is deterring them.
“Travel is at the top of consumers’ priority list, with them preferring to ditch discretionary purchases such as eating out and takeaways in order to enjoy a holiday.
“There’s a great sense of optimism in the sector for 2023. The year has already got off to a promising start as consumers regain their confidence to book ahead.”
’Dark cloud to the silver lining’
Bell continued: “There’s no denying that the cost of living crisis will be front and centre of consumers’ minds when deciding to book a holiday, so value for money will be important.
“In a bid to reduce costs, we’re likely to see consumers cutting the duration or frequency of their holidays, or even opting for a cheaper location where their money goes further.
“All-inclusive trips are likely to be particularly popular as consumers look to spread the cost of the holiday, but ultimately it will be high-end travel operators that luck out in 2023.
“There is, however, a dark cloud to this silver lining for the sector in the form of strikes by Border Force staff. With government claiming public sector pay rises would negatively impact the recovery of inflation, it looks unlikely we’ll see a resolution to this issue any time soon.
"If chaos does unfold in UK airports this could very well hinder the success and recovery of the travel sector.”
