Around 5 million Brits planning to take a holiday this year will have already booked it in January, a survey has revealed.
The face-to-face survey of 1,997 respondents by TNSTravel and Tourism showed that with 30 million UK residents planning to take at least one holiday away from home this year, 16% of them will have made the booking last month.
TNS head of travel and tourism in the UK Tom Costley said a quarter of those who made bookings last month did so to ensure they could get their preferred choice while 16% were reacting to good deals.
A further 14% of respondents said booking a holiday in January gave them something to look forward to while 12% claimed it was through force of habit.
Costley said the trade should also focus on as many of 10 million Brits who are planning to take both an overseas and domestic break but are yet to decide where they will spend the most cash.
He added: “Of particular importance are the 10 million or so who are planning to take both UK and overseas holidays where the choice between the two types of destinations could well be influenced by various factors such as competitive prices and weather.”