The rush to the Med begins! 62% of all 2021 package holiday searches now for July and August!

The double vaccinated may very soon be able to escape quarantine on return from amber countries to the UK. This is resulting in a rapid turn-around in Brits confidence levels to search for and book a Med escape this summer.

55% of all package holiday bookings (British holidaymakers comparing prices via TravelSupermarket and then clicking through and booking with providers) in the last week are for July/August. This compares to a fortnight ago (14th to 20th June), when 10% of bookings were for July/August and 63% were for 2022. The most booked overseas destinations in the last week are (in the following order) Majorca, Madeira, Lanzarote, Ibiza and Malta.  

62% of all 2021 departure package holiday price comparison searches (28th June to 4th July) via TravelSupermarket are now for July and August vs 41% a fortnight ago (14th-20th June)!  If you include searches for all departures including 2022, 43% of package holiday price comparison searches over the last week are for June-Aug 2021, 26% are for Sept to Dec departure dates and 31% for 2022 package holidays. This compares to a fortnight ago, when a whopping 48% of all package holiday searches were for 2022 and just 27% of all future package holiday searches were for June to August 2021, meaning that the remaining 25% were for Sept to Dec 2021.

It isn’t just green list countries that Brits are searching for. There is increased interest, on the back of the double-vaccinated no quarantine confirmation from the Government, in amber countries. Currently, the most searched destinations via TravelSupermarket for a package holiday are the Balearic Islands (with Majorca the most popular island to search for), followed by amber list destinations Tenerife and Crete.

Emma Coulthurst from holiday price comparison site, TravelSupermarket says; “Currently, seven night package holiday prices are starting as low as from £150pp to amber destinations such as the Canary Islands and the Greek Islands which the Foreign Office has given the ok to holiday to. Comparing prices across the holiday market via TravelSupermarket, there are still good green list package holiday prices too from as little as £185pp for a family during the school holidays to the likes of Malta and Madeira”.

Emma adds; “Package holidays tend not to see the immediate steep fluctuations in prices which flights do due to airline revenue management systems. Some holiday providers own their own airlines and can control prices. Or the flight and accommodation prices have been secured by holiday providers in advance."

Emma also says; “This is the time to lock in a great price with a package. Packages are nearly always better value than going DIY and they also give you better financial and legal protections. Look for no-quibble flexible booking guarantees which will allow you to switch the holiday date if you need to. Once the Government confirms the date when quarantine on return will be dropped for the double vaccinated and more countries are likely to open up to Brits in the coming weeks, demand will increase to get away. This could see prices going up, so now is the time to act”.

https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb/holidays/deals/