FAVOURABLE exchange rates for European destinations led to a drop in the share of long-haul holidays from 11% to 9%for summer ’98 market, according to the latest Lunn Poly Market Update.
Marketing directorPeter Povey said the currency issue was probably the biggest single reason for the drop in demand.
Florida accounted for 35% of long-haul summer ’98 sales, while other US destinations made up another 15% (see table, right).
The fastest growing destination was Cuba, which increased its market share from 1% to 2%, while Kenya’s dropped from 3% to 2%.
Cuba is expected to take an even greater market share in 1999, partly because British Airways is introducing flights to Cuba for the first time at the end of March.
In the short-haul market, France’s share of the market declined in all UK regions except for in the West Midlands and the southeast.
Lunn Poly said this was probably due to the World Cup, which would have discouraged some holidaymakers from visiting the country.
More than 10m people in the UK took a summer holiday in 1998, some 9% more than 1997 (see table, right). Majorca remained the number one selling destination in the UKmarket.
The most popular choices for the millennium are Benidorm, Caribbean cruises, Florida and Australia.
The report’s figures are based on bookings through all agents until the end of November 1998.
Meanwhile, by the end of November 1998 over 2.5m Britons had booked a summer ’99 holiday. It is estimated a further 1.5m were booked in January.