Holiday firm reports spike in demand for long-haul trips

A holiday company has reported demand for summer trips to faraway destinations is growing faster than for short-haul breaks.

Thomas Cook said this is due to families being “more adventurous” in the wake of coronavirus travel restrictions being lifted around the world.

Its overall number of bookings for long-haul holidays in July and August is two-and-a-half times higher than at the same point last year, whereas the increase for trips to all locations is just 17%.

More people are heading further afield

Sales of holidays on Mauritius , an island in the Indian Ocean, have risen three-fold to exceed more established summer hotspots closer to home such as Greece’s Mykonos and Kefalonia, Portugal’s Madeira and Italy’s Sardinia.

Two-thirds of Mauritius bookings are for family breaks, compared with around half to Greece.

The US remains Thomas Cook’s number one long-distance summer destination with a 60% year-on-year rise in demand, followed by Mexico and Mauritius.

Thomas Cook head of product Emma King said: “Now the shadow of Covid is long behind us, families are becoming more adventurous with their summer holiday plans and more people are heading further afield.

“Florida has always been a popular family summer holiday choice but now Mexico is rivalling it – and this year, Mauritius has leapt in popularity.

“The summers in Mauritius are cooler than you will see on the Med but still around 25C so can be better for families who prefer to be more active during the day or who want to explore a different part of the world.”

Air Mauritius launched daily flights between Gatwick airport and the island nation in October 2023, while other UK airports offer routes via the Middle East.

The UK lifted its last remaining coronavirus travel restrictions in March 2022.

But some parts of the world, particularly in Asia, kept rules in place until late 2023, meaning many UK holidaymakers avoided long-haul trips last year.

A spokesperson for luxury holiday company Kuoni reported that Mauritius and Thailand are “proving extremely popular” due to offering good value for money, high quality hotels and resorts, and the opportunity to enjoy “rich cultural experiences”.

Three out of four of its Thailand bookings are for holidays involving multiple locations, demonstrating the demand for “experimental and diverse travel experiences”, she added.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, said the industry is seeing strong demand, particularly from families booking trips before schools return.

She added: “In many cases long-haul travel can offer better value for money compared with a holiday to the Med.

“There is still plenty of availability to travel long-haul this summer with the Far East, and in particular Thailand, continuing to be strong sellers across our travel agent network, along with the US and the Caribbean.”