New research from airline easyJet reveals that Brits are planning more holidays that usual in 2022 and will spend more on them than ever before this year, in a bid to make up for lost travel experiences over the last two years as a result of travel restrictions.
More than half of Brits (55%) say they plan on taking more than two holidays this year, 50% say they will go on more holidays in 2022 than they normally would and a third are planning to spend £1000+ more than usual on their 2022 holidays as a result of having had their travel plans disrupted by travel restrictions across Europe.
Nearly half of those surveyed (47%) plan on going on a "holiday of a lifetime" this year to make up for the past two years of less travelling, with around two-thirds (65%) prioritizing a trip abroad in 2022.
The research also reveals that among those surveyed, June 2019 was the last time the majority of Brits went abroad for an adventure.
With two thirds of Brits favoring a sunny beach break holiday, it comes as no surprise that Spain proved to be the number one destination that Brits are most looking forward to travelling to. Just as many want to try somewhere new (44%) as those looking to return to their favorite destination (43%) in 2022.
The results from the survey of 2000 holidaymakers comes following the UK Government confirming the removal of unnecessary and costly pre-departure testing for those returning to the UK and the return to one lateral flow test on arrival.
In the hours following the government announcement, the airline saw a boost in UK bookings by almost 200% on average compared to the same time last week. Flights to Spanish destinations Tenerife, Alicante, Malaga and Lanzarote proved to be most in demand, with bookings to Lanzarote being boosted by 427%, week on week.
The airline recently put over 1.1 million additional seats on sale from its largest airport London Gatwick for summer 2022. Even more seats are now available from Gatwick next summer to destinations including Alicante, Malaga, Nice, Bordeaux, Corfu, Venice, Milan, Funchal, Faro and Dubrovnik and well as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Jersey. As London Gatwick’s largest airline, easyJet will operate 79 aircraft from the airport in summer 22.
For those looking to book their next holiday, easyJet recently launched its Big Orange Sale offering up to 25% off selected flights, with great value fares still available to book from just £11.96* until 11 January 2022.
The airline is offering discounted seats across thousands of flights to and from the UK between Jan. 18 and Sept. 30 to over 110 destinations.
Sophie Dekkers, chief commercial officer at easyJet, said: “We know that there is pent up demand with many desperate to get away this year, which we continue to see each time restrictions are removed. This survey further underlines the fact that people want make up for lost time as soon as they can and so we welcome the government’s decision to remove the unnecessary and costly pre-departure testing for travelers, now only requiring one lateral flow test on arrival. This will make travel much simpler and easier and means our customers can book with confidence and are hopeful that completely restriction free travel will return soon.
“With low fares, so many fantastic destinations and leading flexibility, now is a great time to book with easyJet. We are excited about our plans for next summer, which should see us return to 2019 levels of capacity and beyond.”
