The solution to high summer prices being championed by the big players may not work – and could even reinforce the incorrect perception the travel industry is profiteering, says Travelzoo chief executive Richard Singer
Staggering school breaks should “flatten the peak” by spreading out the natural spike in demand, says Tui Travel chief executive, Peter Long. Abta agrees, as do 85% of its members according to a recent poll.
For some, this might signal the end of high summer holiday prices, but to me, it could be a PR disaster for the travel industry – particularly when the biggest players are championing a new “solution” that may well turn out to be a dead end for all concerned.
Michael Gove has accused travel companies of trying to “fleece parents”. Perhaps common sense should prevail. We know that increases in holiday prices simply mirror market forces in peak season when demand outstrips supply. Let’s face it – it’s not just British families who have to holiday in July and August. Families across Europe are all chasing the same hotel beds and flights, and prices reflect this.
My worry is that should staggered school holidays fail to make prices more acceptable, the UK tour operators will once again look like the villains. It was only last week, on the BBC Radio 4’s “Any Questions?”, that two high-profile MPs and the Shadow Leader of the Lords labelled the behaviour of UK tour operators as “cynical” and “unacceptable”. This topic won’t go away.
At Travelzoo, we have a team of Deal Experts in Germany – where staggered school holidays were introduced in 1964 – who are constantly researching prices and destinations. I asked them to look at how the system works for them.
They analysed popular international and domestic family destinations along with flight prices and saw that on average, prices increased by 46% ahead of the first wave of school holidays and then dropped by 31% from mid-September when the regions all return to school. The conclusion from my German colleagues was that “the system is no better than the UK”.
Given that staggering has had little impact on reducing holiday price hikes in Germany, it surprises me that many believe the UK market will fare any better.
In Germany, fines of up to €1000 are regularly dished out to parents who take their children out of school in term time.
Last week, a leading German publication reported that the federal police are checking German families at airports travelling with children of school age – if they are outside of the allocated holiday dates without correct permission, the officers will inform the school. Paying fines of this magnitude is proof that prices during the school holidays are still prohibitively expensive.
In the UK we’re penalised with the highest flight tax in the world, so I’m still calling for a suspension of APD during the summer holidays. But we also need a more flexible approach from the UK government on family holiday restrictions and fining.
Clearly, we need action. But it seems to me that the heralded “solution” of staggering the holidays may not be a solution at all, and as we have seen in Germany, prices just remain higher for longer. This will only reinforce the incorrect perception that the cause of the rise is down to the profiteering of the travel industry.