Concern about Brexit is diminishing the UK’s appetite for foreign holidays this Easter, with flight and package prices well below the usual levels for the April break – and the cost of UK stays rising sharply.
The cheapest weekend stay at Center Parcs at Longleat in Wiltshire beginning on “Brexit Day”, 12 April, is £300 per person for a family of four.
Yet the same family could fly to Lanzarote from Bristol Airport on 11 April, the day before a possible no-deal Brexit, for just £226 per person.
The price from Thomas Cook includes flights with 15kg of checked luggage, transfers and self-catering accommodation at the Smartline complex in Puerto del Carmen in Lanzarote.
On the same day, Tui is offering a week from Glasgow to the same Canary Island for £225, staying at the Lanzarote Paradise Club on the Costa Teguise.
Both holiday companies would be expecting to earn around twice as much for a peak Easter week.
For a week at the “Platinum” rated Hotel Delfin Azul in Alcudia, Mallorca, departing from Birmingham on 8 April, Tui has a price of £240 per person – including breakfasts and evening meals for seven days.
A family holiday of that quality during the school holidays for under £1,000 is unprecedented.
Many schools break up on Friday, with Saturday a peak day for departures from Britain’s airports. Yet for a short break this weekend, flight-only fares are way below normal levels.
Ryanair has availability from Stansted to Ibiza for £95 return.
Spain has seen a 7 per cent slump in bookings to the end of October, according to the latest findings from ForwardKeys – which predicts future travel patterns by analysing transactions.
Overall, summer season bookings from the UK to European Union countries are lagging 4.6 per cent behind 2018.
Tui and easyJet have both reported challenging trading conditions due to uncertainty over Brexit.
Bookings to non-EU destinations are well ahead of last year, with Turkey and Egypt both up 31 per cent – and Tunisia more than doubling the number of holidays sold to UK travellers last month.
Once the school holidays end, prices slump even further.
For an eight-day break departing on 30 April from Gatwick to Palma and back, easyJet is selling seats for £28 return based on two travelling together.
