Britons are turning their backs on the classic holiday destinations such as Italy and France this summer, opting for a sunshine break to Turkey instead. The Thomas Cook Holiday Report, released today, states the fluctuating value of the pound has resulted in nearly half of all summer 2019 bookings to destinations outside the eurozone. The company cites this is an increase of 10 per cent. Additionally, it revealed almost half of holidaymakers have confessed they are more likely to travel outside of the EU compared to the last few years, while 47 per cent of bookings for Thomas Cook package holidays have been made for locations which do not have the euro as their method of currency.
With the shift in holiday trends, Turkey has come out top.
The eastern European country has seen a whopping 27 per cent uplift in bookings compared to 2018.
The report stated: “Turkey has risen up the ranks to become Thomas Cook’s second most popular destination overall for Brits and a quarter of all Thomas Cook Airlines’ bookings are to this Eastern Med hotspot.”
It added: “Turkey has been rising back up the ranks of the destination league table for the last few years.
“In 2019 it reaches a new peak, with flight-only bookings to Turkey seeing a 27 percent uplift compared to last summer.
“At this point in 2018, Turkey was at the number three spot in the list of the most popular summer getaways so it has already leapfrogged Greece this year.
“It would take pole position were it not for the fact that Spain, Canaries and Balearics are grouped together as one.
“Aside from its attractiveness for being outside the EU, Turkey is a 2019 tourism hotspot thanks to the great value for money offered by its five-star resorts.”
Thomas Cook CEO Peter Fankhauser said Turkey breaks offered travellers greater security, and said: “For those who have booked, it’s non-EU countries such as Turkey and Tunisia which are proving popular, along with all-inclusive deals as customers ‘lock in’ costs for food and drink for peace of mind.”
Meanwhile, the pound is down 14 per cent against the euro since the Brexit referendum.
This has also prompted differences in Briton’s holiday choices ahead of the UK’s departure from the EU, granted by an Article 50 extension, on October 31.
Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group has said sterling could soar back to pre-referendum levels should Britain and the European Union reach a deal.
He said: “Nothing has of any substance been achieved and everything remains up in the air.
“The longer the Brexit process takes, and it is clearly taking a long time, the closer the final relationship between the UK and the EU will be.”
He added: “When Brexit is finally delivered, investors are advised to be on the watch for a rally in the pound, UK stocks and a spurt in economic activity as sidelined household and business spending kicks in.”
