Holiday spend to be slashed

A survey has revealed that 1 in 4 of us want to spend up to 50% less on booking our holidays this year. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that holidaymakers are opting for a staycation or settling for less this year, it just means that people are getting wiser and doing their best to shop around.  A new study revealed that 48% of us are more likely to shop online to save money by visiting comparison websites and doing online research to find the best deals.

In previous years, research has shown that many consumers will book their holidays during the Christmas period when travel companies start advertising early bird discounts, but it seems this year 87% of those surveyed held off from booking their holidays during this time. This may be due to people making the most of the rules of supply and demand and holding out to book last minute deals on those spare airline seats and empty hotel rooms at a bargain price by just the click of a mouse.

The survey also found that this year an extra 12% of people are booking travel products online compared to 2009. This isn’t surprising when considering some of the guarantees online travel operators are offering consumers. Some companies even offer to refund the difference if their online price can be beaten elsewhere.   

Operations Director of IMRG, the company that carried out the survey, has stated the results ‘mark a shift in consumer purchasing behaviour as more people are swayed by better holiday deals online and are less likely to plan so far in advance.’ Proving that many consumers will act on impulse after signing up to receive special offer emails to hear about the best deals first.

However, one downside is there has been a 1% drop in overall customer satisfaction when booking online, with many consumers getting frustrated with poor telephone and email support. But this seems to be the small sacrifice consumers are willing to make to go on that all important holiday at the price they’re prepared to pay.