Zambia and Mauritius have been included in the Association of British Travel Agents’ (ABTA) top 10 ‘Destinations to watch in 2024’ report – launched ahead of the first Saturday in January.
Graeme Buck, ABTA Director of Communications, said: “The first Saturday in January, known in the travel industry as ‘Sunshine Saturday’, is one of the busiest days in the year for people to book a holiday as they look to take advantage of the great availability and good deals on offer at this time of year.”
According to him, good value is increasingly important for customers, and many have said they will use a travel professional, such as a travel agent or tour operator, to get the best possible deal.
Buck highlighted: “Our recent research found that 64% of Britons will travel abroad over the next 12 months. If those numbers become a reality, the percentage of people travelling will align with 2019 figures – a bumper year for travel.”
The report further highlighted that holidaymakers from the UK are also expected to embrace their more curious side when it comes to the destinations they choose to visit.
Almost half (47%) of survey respondents said this year they planned to visit a new city or resort they had never been to, and 41% are planning to head to a country they had not been to before.
Spending money on holiday remained a priority for UK travellers, said Buck, who pointed out that ABTA’s long-running research with consumers showed that the majority of holidaymakers took multiple trips a year – an average of 3.4 holidays per person taken in 2023 – holidaying both at home and abroad.
“As we reported in Holiday Habits 2023-24, people are embracing all-year-round travel – enjoying breaks in the shoulder season as well as the peak months.”
He said ABTA believed this for a number of reasons: “Firstly, as we already outlined, people take multiple trips so they spread them across the year. Secondly, it’s currently a value-driven market, so where they can, people are flexible with when they travel to get the best price.
“Thirdly, this is what destinations have been working towards encouraging people to travel across the year and to a wide range of destinations.”
