
Daniel Barnett 9pm - 10pm
11 February 2025, 17:33
A major travel agent has urged families to go on holiday during Easter rather than the summer to save money.
On the Beach said making the change could save families thousands of pounds as well as annual leave, with the Easter period having two bank holidays.
It added that this would also lead to lower demand over the summer period and lower prices as a result.
The agent’s bookings for the Easter holidays since the start of February have been on average 50% cheaper than for the summer, equating to savings of £1,268.
For example, an all-inclusive seven-night Easter stay at a four-star hotel in Spain's Costa Blanca, including flights, cost £2,175 for a family of four, rather than the £3,712 quoted in August.
Zoe Harris, the company’s chief customer officer, said: “As an online travel agent, we don’t control the price of hotels or flights.
“Due to the incredible demand for holidays during summer, and limited availability, prices are increased by hoteliers and flight providers and this cost is passed on to the customer via us.
“We want this to change, but it’s only achievable if people change their holiday habits.
“This year is the latest Easter has fallen for five years. Holidaying during the break means you can enjoy highs of up to 30 degrees in Egypt, 24 degrees in Greece and the Canaries, and 22 degrees in Turkey.
“So you get sunshine, a tan and save a whole lot of cash all while helping drive down prices for summer.”
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It comes following an investigation which found families booking a summer holiday face price hikes of up to 11.5%.
Consumer group Which? compared the cost of more than 8,000 package breaks this year with last year.
Researchers looked at prices of holidays available last January for an August departure with those this month for the peak August getaway.
The average increase was discovered to be 4.2%, above the rate of inflation of around 2.5%, with some destinations rising significantly more.
The biggest rise was on holidays to Bulgaria’s Black Sea coastal resorts, where prices have typically leapt by 11.5% since last summer.