Travel agents need to plan to maximise the opportunities of the ‘staycation’ during 2010 or they risk losing business, Hoseasons chief executive Richard Carrick has warned.
He claims agents need to adapt if they are to take advantage of the “seismic shift” in holiday habits. The warning comes after a YouGov poll in last weekend’s Sunday Times showed that 54% of Britons plan to take their main holiday at home in 2010.
Carrick said: “Those who thought that the staycation was uniquely a 2009 phenomenon are being proven wrong.
“The continuing tight economic situation, coupled with the fact that families who chose to stay at home this year have been surprised about the quality, variety and value that a UK holiday now offers, means consumers are planning to repeat the experience.
“Travel agents are going to have to readjust their sights and not simply hope that things will return in 2010 to how they were previously. We have seen a seismic shift in holiday habits brought about by the recession, and it’s likely that it will never go back to how it was, at least for the foreseeable future.”
The YouGov poll for the Sunday Times showed that just 11% of Brits who have already booked a domestic break are planning an overseas holiday in 2010.
“Our UK bookings for 2010 are up 51.6% against this time last year,” said Carrick. “The good news is that the increase is 65.4% in the trade, which shows that travel agents have started to take on board the message that the UK can be good business.”