New research from south west self-catering specialist Blue Chip Holidays has revealed that holiday habits are set to “significantly shift” towards south west and Cornish breaks in 2012.
Its findings suggest that concerns about the cost of holidaying abroad, combined with the impact of next April’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) hikes, are set to hit overseas holidays and bring a boom in the popularity of south west and Cornish breaks.
According to its survey of over 2,900 people, 44% of those polled said that they planned to increase the number of domestic and south west holidays in 2012.
However, when they were asked how they would react to the planned APD hikes at twice the rate of inflation from April, the numbers of those saying they would be more likely holiday in the UK rather than overseas leapt to 67%.
53% of those polled said the weakness of the pound dissuaded them from holidaying abroad while 64% said that they have chosen, or would choose a domestic self-catering holiday over an overseas trip to save money.
Commenting on the findings, Blue Chip MD Alan Taylor said: “The impact of a hike in APD cannot be underestimated. In these financially challenging times the travelling public are looking for value for money.
“Confronted with the prospect of hundreds of pounds being added to the cost of their overseas holiday overnight, you can bet that travellers will very quickly look for better value deals and for many that will mean holidaying in Cornwall.”
