Survey shows Britons are holiday-focused, trend is boosting retail, accessories

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 13, 2024

We’ve heard a lot since the pandemic about how consumers are prioritising travel spend rather than other discretionary areas. But a new survey shows that this is benefiting the retail sector and fashion/accessories too.

CACI, the data specialist focused on people and place, said 40% of the UK’s holidaymakers are aiming to spend more time on holiday compared to last year, “a trend already being reflected across travel-oriented brands and major UK shopping destination performance”.

Consumers it surveyed ranked holidaying as the second-highest priority – behind only home improvement – for spend increases in 2024, “highlighting a shift in consumer confidence”.

Ads

Some 38% of those surveyed expressed the intention to go abroad, with 8% of holidaymakers doing so for the first time since the pandemic, which shows that activity still hasn’t completely normalised since the global health crisis.

The desire to embark on staycations and short-haul trips has also increased with 22% of people aiming to do so. 

But along with all this, the cost-of-living crisis continues and 34% of those polled want to keep costs down when on holiday, “potentially pointing towards more budget brands and operators”.

So how is all this helping retail? For a start, the study said that as well as holiday brands like Airbnb, EasyJet, and Booking.com are seeing a boost, while product brands are also seeing rising sales.

It said that luggage brand Antler, for instance, “has benefited from a healthy trading period, seeing a 71% sales increase, highlighting growth in a brand inextricably connected to holidaying”.

And physical shopping destinations are securing more spend too. Newcastle’s Metrocentre is enjoying a footfall boost and the top five UK regional supermall has seen its travel sales rising 8.3% like-for-like. As well as this reflecting a more buoyant time for travel agents likes TUI and Kuoni, “the increase is also seen across travel accessory brands, with luggage outperforming for a number of retailers”. 

Other brands referenced within the top 20 were Vinted, Third Space, and Sephora, as well as Shein.

It’s also likely that as holiday time approaches, brands selling swim and beachwear, T-shirts, shorts, summer dresses and other holiday-liked merch will get a boost.