The Advantage Travel Partnership has pointed to a growing number of families choosing to take their annual break outside of the summer holidays.
This mirrors trends seen last year when Advantage reported the family market was “slower for summer holiday bookings”.
The consortium said more families are instead looking for Easter deals and cooler temperatures outside of the peak months, with Easter holiday bookings up 15% compared to the same period last year.
Its recent survey found “impressive growth” in the family market with the percentage of bookings with at least one child increasing from 21% across its members in 2024 to 25% this year.
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Advantage also pointed to “strong momentum” in long-haul travel across its membership with a 5% shift from short-haul trips to long-haul for this summer.
This uptick was attributed to many families discovering long-haul travel can be more cost-effective than European destinations during school holidays, particularly in destinations like Thailand and the Far East where local costs are not as high.
Top short-haul winter-sun destinations for Easter, which this year falls in the third week of April, were Tenerife, Antalya and Costa Blanca.
The most popular long-haul destinations for the same time period were Orlando, Mexico and New York.
The Advantage Travel Partnership chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes said: “We often see people travelling slightly further afield to destinations such as Orlando earlier in the year to try and beat the summer crowds and queues and avoid the hotter summer months.
She highlighted Orlando as “a destination to watch” which is set to have “a bumper year”, following the opening of Universal Park Epic Universe in May.
She added the US market was “experiencing robust growth”, with Orlando and New York “leading the charge”, while Nashville also saw “rising interest”.
Cookes added: “It’s interesting to see that long-haul is proving popular and we anticipate that the popularity of shows like White Lotus set in Thailand and Love Island All Stars filmed in South Africa will further fuel interest in these destinations for 2025 holidays.”
She also tipped cruise to have “a big year” due to new ship launches spanning river, ocean and expedition lines including MSC, Uniworld, NCL, Celebrity Cruise, Royal Caribbean and Virgin Voyages.