Is 2022 the year of the catch-up consumer?

This year will be the year of the ‘catch-up consumer’ with holidaymakers taking more extravagant trips and placing a higher premium on booking with a travel expert, ABTA’s Travel in 2022 report suggests.

Released during the organisation’s Travel Trends Conference, the data reveals that 61% of people say they plan to go abroad within the next year, up 4% on 2020, and 49% say holidays will be more important than before the pandemic, specially for families with children over five.

ABTA members report they are also taking bookings for 2023, as greater stability and certainty surrounding overseas travel is predicted to return.

ABTA’s data shows that from February 2020 to July 2021 around 16% of people went on a foreign holiday, down from the 64% who travelled abroad in 2019.

Booking trends from ABTA Members such as Jet2holidays, TUI, Travelbag and Barrhead Travel suggest clients want to make sure their next holiday is really special by upgrading: 46% claim they will spend more on the holiday they plan to take over the next 12 months, up from 29% in 2020, with many extending the length of their trip, moving from three- to four-star hotels and looking at more expensive destinations.

And wanderlust is returning too, with

37% saying they plan to visit a “bucket list” country they have not visited before, like Maldives or Caribbean, or take a “once-in-alifetime trip”to the Arctic or Galapagos.

All of which is good news for travel agents, with ABTA predicting the dawning of a new “Age of the Expert” that sees more consumers valuing the importance of travel experts during what will remain an uncertain and unpredictable time for travel.

Thirty per cent of respondents said they are “more likely” to book with a travel agent than before the pandemic, up from 20% last year, while nearly half (47%) cite the guidance agents offer on Coronavirus travel requirements as the main reason.

Hays Travel claim that since April last year more than half of its business has come from new customers, while more than 60% of Inghams’ customers are booking with the operator for the first time.

Those in the age bracket 18-24 are increasingly turning towards travel agents, with two-thirds saying they are “more likely” to book with an expert than before the pandemic and 34% are of the view they will have a “better holiday” if they do.

This is also the age of the package holiday, with 78% of people citing a regulated package holiday was either ”essential or important”, with 27% ”more likely” to book a package holiday than before the pandemic. abta.com