Spike in all-inclusive holidays as families seek break from money worries

Cash-conscious families are booking all-inclusive resorts to take a break from worrying about money, according to a travel company.

Tour operator easyJet Holidays said it has recorded a spike in demand for upper end holidays with no extra costs for food, drinks and activities.

It reported that around 70% of bookings are for all-inclusive trips, mainly at four and five-star resorts.

Speaking at the annual convention of travel trade organisation Abta in Marrakesh, Morocco, easyJet Holidays chief executive Garry Wilson said: “We’re seeing a big rise in all-inclusive demand.

“I think we’re nearly up to about 70% of customers demanding all-inclusive.”

Mr Wilson said all-inclusive hotels in low-cost destinations such as Turkey have “everything”.

He went on: “People going with their kids don’t want to have to watch their money the whole time, where if the kids want to go to a water park that’s 50 euros, if the kids want ice cream that’s 50 euros.

“They can get it all in these all-inclusive hotels and that’s the price locked in. Often they don’t go out. So they say, ‘I’m not going to spend anything extra’.”

Mr Wilson said Turkey has grown in popularity among holidaymakers as accommodation is better value for money than traditional destinations.

“You’ll pay for a five star all-inclusive hotel (in Turkey) the same amount that you would pay for a three or four-star bed and breakfast in the Balearics.”

He added that one of the reasons demand for holidays remains high is due to memories of coronavirus lockdowns.

“I think what Covid has done is remind people what it’s like when you don’t travel, and how much they enjoy travel,” he said.

“It’s just made people much more focused on thinking, ‘I don’t want to go back to that period of not being able to travel. If that means I have to give up spending on other things then I will, but I’m not going to allow myself to miss on that holiday’.”

A survey of 2,000 UK consumers commissioned by Abta suggested 18% of holidays taken in the 12 months to the end of August were all-inclusive, compared with 15% in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

Dame Irene Hays, owner and chairwoman of Hays Travel, told the convention that the cost of living is “definitely a concern”, but her business continues to see “very high demand”.

She said research has shown “travel is never out of the top three desire purchases”.

Dame Irene continued: “People will sacrifice a kitchen, sofa, something new, they’ll sacrifice (spending) money on cars, on clothes and surprisingly supermarket shopping, in order to protect the holiday.”