Spending on travel soared by 66% in January, new figures from Barclays reveal.
Outlay on cards showed year-on-year growth of 83.1% with travel agents and 75.7% with airlines.
Spend on other forms of travel rose by 41.6%.
The total increase on travel hit 66.1% over January 2022.
Transaction growth for travel agents was up by 77% and airlines by more than 48% in the month with the total for travel up by a quarter over the same time last year.
Barclays said: “This growth is likely due to a combination of the impact of the restrictions in 2022, higher prices, and Brits spending more on holidays to make up for missed opportunities over the last few years.”
Overall consumer spending on credit and debit cards was up by 9.7%, rising from 4.4% in December.
Growth in non-essential spend was at its highest since May 2022 at 10.4% as retailers and hospitality venues received a boost.
Barclays said: “The travel sector continues to see strong growth compared to last year as the absence of restrictions and pre-flight testing saw more Brits travel further afield.
“This comes as travel agents and airlines saw year-on-year growth of 83.1% and 75.7% respectively.”
Barclays’ UK spending report added: “Non-essential card spending grew 10.4% in January 2023.
“This was driven by a 26.5% year-on-year spend growth in the overall hospitality and leisure sector, which reflects the impact of the Plan B restrictions in place last year due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19.”
Barclays director Esme Harwood said: “January saw a number of categories bounce back from last year’s Plan B restrictions thanks to Brits booking holidays, taking trips to the cinema, and snapping up bargains in the sales.
“However, while it’s encouraging that confidence in household finances saw a slight boost, it is clear that Brits will still need to find ways to manage their budgets over the coming months amid rising grocery price inflation and mounting utility bills.”
The data reflects booming holiday bookings reported across the sector during the traditional January peaks period.
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