ABTA Travel Trends conference 2024 - the highlights

2025 data is showing a promising outlook as well. Despite a dip in consumer confidence due to rising energy prices and the rise of mortgage rates (as homeowners’ low fixed deals come to an end), which will affect personal spending, holidays are perceived to be the last thing to go when spending needs to be reduced. In fact, more people expect to spend more (31%) or the same (53%) as opposed to less (15%) on travel next year.

Great news for the travel industry, but what other juicy facts and stats did the presenters and panelists share at this year’s conference? I round up the key points from each session in this article.

Key highlights:

• Rise in holiday frequency: 84% of UK travelers took an average of 3.9 holidays in 2024. Despite financial concerns, 31% plan to spend more on travel in 2025, with only 15% planning to spend less.
• Destination trends: UK travelers increased trips to Morocco (+51%), Croatia (+26%), and Turkiye (+13%). Top city destinations included Alicante (+20%) and Barcelona (+14%), while Palma de Mallorca remains the most popular for overall traveller numbers.
• Gulf region popularity: Abu Dhabi (+94%) and Jeddah (+61%) saw significant growth among UK holidaymakers. The Middle East's varying stability influenced travel patterns, with Lebanon seeing declines but GCC regions thriving.
• Gen Z luxury preferences: In 2024, 47% of Gen Z stayed in five-star accommodations, an increase from 37% last year. Gen Z also showed the highest intent to upgrade travel experiences in 2025.
• "Baecations" resurgence: Partner-only holidays increased by 44%, indicating a rise in personalized and varied travel experiences as travellers take multiple holidays per year.
• Winter travel shifts: Interest in the Northern Lights surged to 18.4%, from just 6% in 2019. Cruises also gained popularity, now representing 17.6% of winter travel choices.
• Solo travel boom: Solo travel, particularly among women, is on the rise, with 44% of Intrepid Travel’s bookings coming from solo travellers, 72% of whom are female. This trend aligns with growing independence and higher disposable incomes.
• Sustainability's growing in importance: While not a top priority for consumer decision making yet, sustainability practices are increasingly expected. Travel companies are integrating eco-conscious efforts subtly, focusing on maintaining comfort and affordability.
• Shifting booking patterns: Black Friday sales and early bookings became essential strategies, with trends showing a flatter booking season rather than more pronounced traditional peaks. Travellers are also booking way into 2027 already!
• Generational booking insights: Gen Z and Millennials are equally likely to use brochures for inspiration, while Baby Boomers and Gen X prefer traditional travel agents. AI tools and WhatsApp integration are emerging among younger travelers.

The full conference schedule

For those looking to go deeper into the highlights above, plus uncover other juicy nuggets of insights, read on for a session by session overview of the day.

• Movers and shakers for destinations in 2024/2025
• The view from ABTA - the top 5 trends
• Touring market trends and what’s new for 2025
• Travel booking patterns & consumer behaviour
• Product trends from Kuoni, Intrepid and Newmarket Holidays
• Spotlight on cruising, the Carnival Cruise Line story
• Adapting marketing strategies to capitalise on travel trends
• Final thoughts

Movers and shakers for destinations in 2024/2025

According to Antoine Vialle, Market Intelligence Consultant at ForwardKeys, Africa & The Middle East saw the strongest YoY increase in international departures from UK airports at 19%. This was followed by APAC (+11%), Europe (+6%) and The Americas (+1%).

Interestingly, global travel placed APAC at 31% YoY growth and Africa & The Middle East at 7% so the UK definitely isn’t aligned with the global trend.

The best performing destinations were Morocco (+51% increase YoY), Croatia (+26%) and Turkiye (+13%) however the cities to receive the biggest increase in UK air travellers were Alicante (+20%), Barcelona (+14%) and Krakow (+13%). These standout performers are based on YoY increases and not total traveller numbers. By far the most popular destination for 2024 was Palma de Mallorca!

This data is for 1st January 2024 - 31st October 2024.

Strong GCC travel demand persists amid regional instability

Vialle stressed the importance of viewing the “Middle East” as having distinctly different areas which aren’t all affected by the conflicts in Israel, Gaza, Palestine and Lebanon. The GCC (“Gulf Cooperation Council” - a group of six countries in the Persian Gulf: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) received impressive growth figures with UK holidaymakers flocking to Abu Dhabi (+94% YoY) and Jeddah (+61%) in their droves.

Saudi Arabia is expected to top the list of YoY growth locations between December 2024 - January 2025 as travellers continue to seek guaranteed warmth and sunshine during our gloomy winter months. Hong Kong (+28%), Thailand (+27%) and UAE are also expected to be high on radar too.

Unsurprisingly it’s been the area around Lebanon which has witnessed up to 100% YoY decline on tickets issued.

The view from ABTA - the top 5 trends

*This research comes from a consumer attitudes survey, conducted during late July and August by ABTA, and also includes the views from conversations with ABTA members and general observations.

The full report is available directly from ABTA

1. Loving long haul

Travel to the rest of the world (excl. Europe and North America) is up 34.2% in 2024/2025 season, this is up from a 28.2% increase the previous period. The most popular regions are Asia, Africa and Oceania (Australia/New Zealand/other Pacific Island countries).

Unsurprisingly the most popular countries within this list were Japan, Thailand, India, China and South Africa.

Reasons for travelling long haul include:

• 45% want to try a country they haven’t been to before (this was 41% of respondents last year)
• More holidays being taken per person so people are seeking variety in their destinations

2. Five-star fans

This was a surprising statistic - 47% of Gen Z reportedly stayed in five-star accommodation during the past 12 months, this is up from 37% last year, and by far the biggest percentage across all audience groups.

When asked about next year’s travel 22% of Gen Z were planning to spend more on their holidays next year so they can upgrade their accommodation. This percentage was 14% for Millennials, 8% for Gen X and 11% for Baby Boomers. Whilst we don’t know the difference between the ‘usual amount’ these groups spend, it’s a clear indication that Gen Z are more optimistic about their travel spending and pursuit of luxury than other generations.

Anyway, I digress. It’s basically a term used to describe holidays with a partner only, and according to ABTA this type of travel is up 44% compared to a 40% increase the year before. A key reason cited is with people taking more holidays per year, different styles of holiday can be enjoyed, and this is one of them!

3. Baecations are back!

Who knew baecations were even a thing? Or at least the use of the term? But apparently it’s been in the industry since pre-Covid with travel brands using references to it in their web copy.

Baecation worldwide trends on Google

References to Baecations in SERPs

Anyway, I digress. It’s basically a term used to describe holidays with a partner only, and according to ABTA this type of travel is up 44% compared to a 40% increase the year before. A key reason cited is with people taking more holidays per year, different styles of holiday can be enjoyed, and this is one of them!

4. Experiencing winter

We were given a trip down memory lane to 2019 when city breaks and winter sun were the dominant holiday choices, and cruise holidays only represented 7% and interest in the Northern Lights only 6% of holiday choices.

Fast forward to now, and the winter breaks people are looking to take between November 2024 and March 2025 are still city breaks and winter sun, however Northern Lights represents 18.4% and cruising 17.6%.

Interest in the Northern Lights has definitely been helped by our local sightings in the UK and publicity around the latest Solar Cycle which is the best time to see the lights in all their brilliance.

5. Inspiration polarisation

This one fascinated me the most because I often have conversations with clients about the value and role of brochures (especially amongst younger travellers). This trend unearths the places holidaymakers go for inspiration. From the traditional brochures and travel agents through to AI and social media.

It unsurprisingly varies by generation, but the traditional forms are still remarkably resilient despite the rise in technology amongst all generations.

Gen Z are nearly just as likely as a Baby Boomer to use brochures when researching a trip, although when it comes to AI, Baby Boomers have little interest/know-how in comparison to Gen Z who cite using it 10% of the time. This is closely followed by Millennials at 7%.

Touring market trends and what’s new for 2025

This was a panel discussion between touring brands, Riviera Travel, G Adventures and TTC Tour Brands (Contiki, Trafalgar & many more). Overall all three brands echoed similar sentiments on the following topics.

General booking trends at the moment around Black Friday and post budget announcements

Consumer confidence in affordability of travel and personal wealth always takes a pause / lull when messages from Government budgets are on the horizon and whilst all brands indicated there was a bit of a slow down and latency in late Summer. Since the budget announcement things have returned back to normal.

All three brands seem to have leaned even more into the Black Friday sales phenomenon with TTC Tour brands starting their sale 10 days earlier than last year, and G Adventures reporting a healthy desire from the trade to be more involved. Historically it was the pricing and comms strategy for direct bookings only, and whilst this is still reacting well, more trade partners wanted to take advantage of the offers and publicity.

There was a slight word of caution from G Adventures who mentioned that a good Cyber sale pre-Christmas could affect bookings in January, but maybe this impact is only slight and worth it for getting bookings in earlier.

Peak booking patterns

All three businesses agreed that peaks are still “a thing” in travel, however G Adventures noticed that over the past 7 years the peak in Jan-Feb has become less pronounced than it once was.

Riviera Travel went so far as to say they saw a longer, flatter season throughout 2024 and expect that to continue into 2025. So maybe more predictability ahead and consistency - good for the forecasters amongst us!?

Destination demand

Understandably interest in the Middle East has been affected by the conflicts (most noticeably amongst US travellers), and people also seem to be transferring from Egypt to Morocco. This was the second session of the day where Morocco got a positive mention, and it had nothing to do with their presence as an event sponsor!

G Adventures shared a viewpoint however that was positive for touring brands in these times of safety and security fears, offering any trepidation for these reasons is well catered for by escorted trips, which in turn is reassuring to travellers and maintaining their appetite to explore the world.

The other stand-out performer, very specific to river cruising brands, is that these businesses can’t sell the (Iberian Peninsula) Douro river quick enough! 2025 bookings are very near, if not already, at capacity and people are having to consider 2026 trip dates.

“Trump slump” expected?

This was a term used by TTG in 2016 when Donald Trump first entered the White House, and the States experienced a 2% decline in visitation to the US the following year, but second time around did our travel brands get the feeling that similar declines would occur?

TTG’s survey revealed that agents felt the result could give UK travellers "pause for thought" when it came to travelling to the US, particularly those of colour or those from the LGBTQ+ community following a fractious election campaign characterised by inflammatory commentary… Others, though, said they didn’t expect any significant implications for UK tourism to the US.

The latter points were echoed by our panelists with some citing that it was too early to tell, and that currently bookings to the US were still up YOY. When Trump enters office the view may change but currently no big shifts have been experienced.

Sustainability

This has been a hot topic throughout 2024, covered by many ABTA events including being featured in our own write up from the Adventure Travel conference in April.

The general consensus is that it should be baked into the delivery of the product wherever possible (as a hygiene factor), and shouldn’t be used as a marketing tool. At the moment travellers aren’t seeking it out necessarily, and whilst it’s growing in importance, we’re still at a stage where people don’t want it to impact their experience, comfort, enjoyment or price as a result of doing things more sustainably!

The best way of delivering the message & importance of sustainability in travel is during the trip where, subtly, a flavour and acknowledgement of sustainability in action can be appreciated. These businesses have noted that this approach can often turn into a stronger reason to rebook. This was echoed in the Adventure Travel Conference as well.

Tourism taxes

With many countries now imposing more tourist taxes, one topic of conversation was about how these businesses were tackling the charges - were they passing onto guests or were they absorbing the costs themselves?

G Adventures and TTC Tour Brands both confirmed that as of yet they haven’t adjusted pricing to reflect these tourism taxes, and TTC Tour Brands went so far as to say, they understand that it’s about supporting the destinations and the suppliers they visit and it’s part of their role, as a tour operator, to support the industry in this way to ensure its survival.

Travel booking patterns & consumer behaviour

This panel discussion was moderated by our own CEO, Andy Headington. He was joined on stage by Hurtigruten’s President Sales & Marketing EMEA, Ian Powell, Director of Communications for Kuoni, Rachel O'Reilly and Club Med’s Marketing Director, Richard De Villa.

Whilst echoing many thoughts about Black Friday and booking patterns shared by the previous panellists, these three brands shared their views and experiences of the route to market for bookings and the adoption of newer technologies.

Not all about online sales

Kuoni revealed that they only sell a small amount of holidays online, most likely because it’s the complex trip types where Kuoni adds value, and in order to facilitate this they’re at their best when interacting with customers over the phone or face to face in their retail shops. Club Med also concurred that travel agents are a big channel of sales for them.

New tools & AI

When asked about adoption of new(er) technologies like budgeting tools, messaging apps and AI the answers were quite mixed. This in part might be due to the type of customer each brand attracts, but also shows that just because it’s available, doesn’t mean it has to be put into use.

Club Med professed that they are looking into budgeting tools (e.g. Klarna / buy now, pay later), especially as consumers are booking early to lock-in a good price, however they’re not doing a lot with it right now. As consumers start to expect it more and more (as its presence in other industries creeps into travel) then the appetite to introduce will increase.

Club Med also mentioned that they launched a WhatsApp service in October whereby consumers can chat initially to a chatbot (which will try and answer most FAQs), but if a human response is required, the transcript of any prior Q&A is sent to the travel designer prior to engagement so that they can offer a seamless customer experience. The service is also enabled so that bookings can be made and amended via the app but with a Travel Designer on the other end of the exchange rather than a bot!

Like Club Med, Hurtigruten shared that they also use AI, but as a tool for servicing customers (post-booking) as it’s important for their travellers to talk through their ideas and itineraries with a customer service representative over the phone or in-person with one of their travel agents.

Authenticity in messaging & experience

This was another strong theme of the panel - how each brand communicates its positioning and value-based proposition to its customers. They all wholeheartedly agreed that putting their product in the hands of people of persuasion (journalists / influencers etc) was a powerful tool for getting their message across authentically.

Having others communicate your message for you, as long as you have 4 - 5 clear messages of “why us”, will resonate better, than if you were to solely beat your own drum. It’s still important to echo the same messaging across all your marketing communication channels, and your website to reinforce it, but at the heart of what makes people connect is hearing from others about their experiences, in their own voices.

Product trends from Kuoni, Intrepid and Newmarket Holidays

Long haul trends from Kuoni

Twin-centre holiday destinations are on the rise

The Maldives is still the number one destination for Kuoni customers, however enquiries have increased for Maldives + another destination.

Similarly people are seeking exploration based holidays in the Caribbean, with more travellers seeking multi-island hopping trips that enable them to see more of the region.

Top 5 destinations for bookings and interest

• India
• Far East, especially Thailand
• Mexico - boutique accommodation but with all-inclusive offering
• New Zealand - £20,000 average booking values due to complexity rather than luxurious accommodation and travel
• Caribbean - growing as an exploratory destination, especially within local, authentic experiences (like cooking classes)

Less about the destination, more about the lifestyle

Powerful TV moments, encapsulated in TV series’ like Race Across the World and nature programmes like Asia, have increased people’s awareness and appetite to seek further afield locations and experiences like Borneo and South America. More trips are also being designed based on wellness, cultural experiences, food and wine, and cooking schools as opposed to the old “fly and flop” mentality.

Spotting micro trends has become a role within product development and marketing, to boost sales during periods where interest is at their peak!

Rise of the solo traveller from Intrepid

This is a very prevalent trend, seen by many travel businesses at this conference and many others, and no doubt witnessed in your own organisations. Funnily enough our very own SEO executive, Jasmine recently wrote about the topic in her blog, which had a specific focus on solo female travellers.

Intrepid confirmed that 44% of their bookings are by solo travellers, and a staggering 72% of these customers are female.

In addition to Jasmine’s blog round-up of reasons why solo female travel is on the rise, Hazel McGuire from Intrepid offered up these reasons:

• There’s been a fundamental shift in how women are living their lives - more disposable income, more independence and less ties to home
• Often the first experience of solo travel was for business, which has then piqued interest in trying it for leisure too
• Social media has enabled people to share their experiences to a wider (more interested) community and fuelled the passion and energy to keep it going

McGuire reminded us all though that there is more than one reason why someone might travel alone, it’s not just single people! For most, it’s seizing the opportunity to do something they want to do, without being limited by the wishes, desires and needs of others.

Newmarket Holidays' view of the over 50s market

Defining the over 50s market? The best way of summing it up is “it’s complicated.” When faced with an age-based subject matter its all too easy to get caught up in an ageist trap, and as Kate Liberty explained, this ‘group’ of people is made up of a lot of different sub-segments and shouldn’t be viewed homogenously:

• Active Baby Boomers
• Multi-generational families
• Solo travellers
• Empty nesters and pre-retirement couples

It’s also worth reminding ourselves when thinking about this rather large, broad group of people that we should be focusing on mindset rather than age when we come to assess their needs and wants.

The trends that are prevalent across these groups however are:

1. Bucket list behaviours - longer trips, upgrades, extensions and looking for trips with a purpose (adventures and memorable experiences)
2. Booking ahead a lot more - it was staggering to learn that 1/5th of bookings in the past 6 weeks for Newmarket Holidays, were for trips in 2027!
3. Media habits remain traditional - traditional media (especially TV) is still the leading platform for impact, although VOD services are on the rise
4. Stable booking methods - loyalty is still strong with travel agents, although 69% of over 55s have stated that they prefer to book their holidays online. And brochures aren’t dead!

To put this ‘group’ into context, Kate devilishly informed us that in 7 years time, the first Millennials will be turning 50! What a cheery thought for those amongst us who are Millennials.

Spotlight on cruising, the Carnival Cruise Line story

A travel conference these days isn’t complete without the mention of the supreme rise of cruising, and on this occasion we were treated to a case study from Carnival Cruise Line.

Key highlights from Luke Smith, Director, UK & International Sales, talk were:

• All cruise line sales are coming in earlier than ever, with 2027 options on the market already (this is 12 months sooner than traditionally seen)
• There has been a reduced lates market due to better forward bookings
• The booking curve has increased over 2024, with bookings taking place 9 months before departure

• New to cruising market is going to be vital to grow the category as a whole. The UK holiday market size is 55m consumers, compared to only 2.3m cruisers in 2024.
• 29% of cruisers globally took their first cruise within the last 2 years
• 72% of non-cruisers would be open to considering a cruise (I wonder what this stat would have been even 10 years ago).

To increase the appeal of cruising to the ‘new to cruise’ market, Carnival Cruise Lines looks to:

• Invest in private islands where they can take their guests as part of the cruise to give them a (more familiar) on-land experience as well
• Adopt a dfferent approach to marketing to these customers – making it vital that they “speak their language” and promote cruise in more mainstream channels
• Achieve excellent cut through with brand partnerships such as Pride of Britain, BAFTAs, Good Food Show etc
• Invest in more above the line advertising and align with TV personalities like Jane McDonald and Susan Calman

The rise of multi-generational families also makes cruising very appealing and puts it in a great position to tend to the various needs of family members:

• Excellent (FOC) kids clubs for all ages 2 -17
• Out of hours baby sitting services
• Dedicated family accommodation
• Flexible dining
• Cabins that sleep up to 5
• Adults only areas
• Exciting attractions on-board such as waterparks, rollercoasters, trampoline parks, rope courses
• Variety of entertainment included in your cruise

Adapting marketing strategies to capitalise on travel trends

Towards the end of the day we were treated to Andy’s stats packed presentation on the digital marketing landscape, the travel search market and general sentiment towards travel based on economic factors. He also threw in some words of caution about the use of AI, and the importance of getting your data and reporting in tip top condition.

You can grab a copy of his presentation here.

From a platform perspective:

• In search, only Google matters
• In social, Meta matters most for nearly every audience, however, TikTok matters for younger travellers
• Email is very under-valued for attention and bookings
• Advertising on the big platforms is competitive and expensive - there are very few easy wins (apart from maybe email!)
• Being strategic and be selective with your efforts will be key to making better headway

Travel trends:

Andy presented his latest research on travel trends which is part of a quarterly series for 2024. All the juicy stats and facts can be found via these links to our blog.

• Q3 travel trends
• Q2 travel trends
• Q1 travel trends

Building resilience into your marketing plans:

What should you plan for:

• Old habits die hard – expect January to be the biggest month of year – go big or miss out!
• Apart from cruise, most sectors have had ‘ok’ growth in 2024, and 2025 is predicted to be the same
• If markets are slowish and you want to grow, you will need to pinch from others rather than hope that your overall sector grows
• We need to get better at the 4Ps – it’s going to be tough, so going back to basics is no bad idea

If things get tight, here are some things you could do

• Turn off brand bidding - most of the time it is a safety net to your overall performance
• Discount earlier - it might be better to bring forward bookings to have certainty around booking numbers rather than waiting to see what happens with volatile late bookings
• Do promotions to existing customers via email, set up Refer a Friend programme or get people to sign up to your database – control the medium as much as possible to maintain brand values
• Turn off some channels - if you really have to, stop doing brand (social) promotions and put into more direct (search) channels
• Keep a REALLY close eye on your most important SERPs - expect them to change at some point next year and be ready to move budget

Key recommendations:

His key recommendations for the year ahead based on everything he knows about platform usage, search trends and the impact of AI on all things marketing were:

• Push hard in January - it’s most likely going to be the busiest month so go hard and watch closely
• Invest in better tech over AI - apply technology better to improve landing pages, booking flows, internal processes, mobile design, email/text comms… don’t get sidetracked by ‘ooh a shiny new AI project”
• Keep tabs on big tech (Google, Meta etc) - more changes will be coming as pressure grows to keep up profit and meet Wall Street expectations - YOU are the target
• Data is your friend! - if things are going to be tight, look at where you’re making the most profit and volume and cut the things that aren’t working as well by having better reporting

Final thoughts

If you’ve got this far (and read or scanned the full article) I salute you, thank you.

I always come back from ABTA’s events full of information that I’m keen to share with others, and preserve for future reference. This year’s trends-focused conference was no exception.

The underlying feelings of optimism for travel in 2025 were reassuring. The pursuit of travel businesses to open up the “hidden gems” of this great planet to UK travellers, who are seeking experiences, purpose and value, are encouraging given all the noise around overtourism. And who knew brochures were still a thing?! I certainly won’t be telling my clients to pause their production any time soon, even amongst the younger generations.

Keep checking our blog for more travel trends quarterly insights and marketing performance advice.