International departures from the UK between January and October 2024 were up 6% compared to the same time in 2023, according to data from analyst ForwardKeys.
Market intelligence consultant Antoine Vialle told Abta’s Travel Trends conference that Africa and the Middle East was “the top-performing region” with 19% growth year on year, driven by city break destinations such as Marrakech and those in Egypt with “a strong offering in beach resorts”.
UK travellers to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region were up 11% over the same period and travel to Europe was up by 6%, but outbound travel to the Americas increased by just 1%.
UK travel to China has now surpassed 2019 levels, according to the data, partly driven by airlift from Chines carriers which are able to fly in Russian airspace.
Within Europe, Vialle highlighted Spain, Croatia and Turkey as popular destinations this year, while Central America, and Costa Rica specifically, had been “really strong” for UK tourists in the Americas region.
Morocco was “by far the leader” in terms of growth, with visitor numbers up 51% compared to 2023.
“There is a clear theme here of sun and beach destinations,” he explained. “Turkey and Croatia are second and third on the list, and then Spain is also in the list and up 7%.”
Spain also had four of the top 10 cities with the highest amount of UK travellers between January and October 2024.
Looking ahead, British travellers are showing “a preference for long-haul”, with India taking a large share, but the US still the most-visited long-haul destination.
He added: “Saudi Arabia is growing the most, by 34% year-on-year, but the one that really captured my attention was Thailand as it has a large market share and is growing strongly by 27%.”
Family and leisure bookings to Thailand were up 40% and 31% compared to last year.
Looking ahead, Vialle said: “Outbound UK travel is looking really healthy, although there are some economic difficulties.
“The growth is driven by the secondary cities like Liverpool and Belfast, and UK travellers still love sun and beach destinations, so you can keep pitching them Spain, Morocco and the Caribbean.”
The Middle East to see ‘huge growth’ in UK travel
Vialle also stressed UK travellers are “not afraid” to visit the Middle East because of conflicts in the region.
He said: “British travellers are not afraid at all to go to those Gulf countries, unlike other markets, like the US market for example, which is avoiding the Middle East completely.”
He highlighted outbound booking data from the UK to the Middle East over the last year showing decreases for bookings to Lebanon and Jordan around escalations on July 31 and September 17, but travel to the rest of the Middle East including the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar was “not at all” impacted.
He said this was down to “perceived destination safety”, adding: “Conflict in the Middle East is isolated, and British travellers realise this.
“They can differentiate between the part that they shouldn’t go to, but they realise that there’s a whole other part of the Middle East that they can safely travel to.”
Looking ahead, Q1 2025 bookings to cities in the Middle East are down 3% compared to Q1 2024, but Easter falls in April next year rather than March.
Five trends for next year
Speaking at the same event, Abta communications director Graeme Buck outlined five travel trends for 2025 from the association’s annual Holiday Habits survey.
These were: “loving long-haul”, “five-star fans”, “baecations are back”, “experiencing winter” and “inspiration polarisation”.
More than a third of people surveyed (34.2%) said they wanted to travel to areas of the world outside Europe and the US, compared to 28.2% in 2023.
More than a third of people surveyed who went on a holiday in the last 12 months stayed in five-star accommodation, up from 30% the year before.
Gen Z were more likely than any other demographic to “splash out”, Buck said, contrary to some preconceptions about the younger generation.
Nearly half of Gen Z travellers (47%) travelling abroad in the last 12 months stayed in five-star accommodation, compared to 41% of Millenials, 27% of Gen X and, 29% of Baby Boomers. These were all up year on year.
Buck added that “baecations” – based on the term ‘bae’ for a romantic partner – or “couple’s only holidays” were growing rapidly with 44% of travellers saying they went on holiday with a significant other last year, up from 20% in 2023.
Hek also highlighted a rise in people taking winter breaks for “experiences” like the Northern Lights, a cruise, wellbeing experiences or ski or snowboard holidays were on the rise, even though city breaks and winter sun holidays were still dominant.
Agents should not solely focus on tech when looking at how to inspire clients, Buck insisted, as 27% of people said they refer to brochures for holiday inspiration. This was between 25 and 30% on average across the generations.