After five years of consistent growth, spending on travel fell by 3.3% year-on-year in March – the first drop since March 2021 when Covid travel restrictions were still in place.
Travel, as defined by Barclays, comprises spending with travel agents and airlines, and on public transport and "other travel". Spending growth with agents, specifically, fell by 4.4% year-on-year in March, although transactions grew by 9.2%.
It was a similar story for airlines, which saw spending decline by 4.1% in March, although spending on hotels, resorts and accommodation (+1.2%) defied the downturn.
