LONDON, UK, 3 November, 2021 - With Halloween done and dusted for 2021, as the season for copious amounts of mulled wine and Michael Buble played on repeat begins, Tripadvisor’s Winter Travel Index released today, reveals where Brits are heading over the winter months. And having been starved of the freedom to travel where and when they like over the last two years, it appears how we travel might be changing, with nearly 4 out of 10 UK travellers planning to visit somewhere new and that same number planning to get more immersive experience from their travels by booking a tour or activity.
The final installment of the Tripadvisor Travel Index for 2021, which is based on first party site data and consumer sentiment data, reveals that almost half of Brits (48%) are planning a getaway between November 2021 and January 2022. This is up from 34% in 2020, but still lags slightly behind the 55% who travelled in 2019.
As the year closes out, the popularity for staycations continues as a whopping 99% say they are planning to travel within the UK this winter - over half (54%) say they’ll be venturing more than two hours away from home and 45% are keeping it local, staying within two hours from home. While more than one in six (18%) are planning a trip abroad.
Although the majority are opting to have a staycation this winter, it seems Brits are looking to broaden their horizons and experience new things, as more than a third (36%) are planning to travel somewhere they haven’t been before and over a third (39%) have booked a tour or activity.
And the appetite to spend more on travel this year shows no signs of slowing, as Brits eagerly make up for precious travel time lost to the pandemic. In our Autumn installment of the Tripadvisor Travel Index, over a quarter (26%) planned to spend more on their biggest trip in Autumn than they did on their biggest trip during the same time period pre-pandemic. This season, when comparing how much they plan to spend on their biggest trip this winter with how much they spent on their biggest trip last winter, more than a third (36%) plan to increase their budget.
What else is trending on Tripadvisor for Brits this Winter?
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The most popular travel dates for Brits heading off on a Winter break are 19th November, 26th November and 16th December - just in time for Christmas
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When considering what to book, Brits are looking mostly at places that can offer, hotel bars and restaurants, free breakfast, pool, all inclusive, free cancellation and beach
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Brits are spending £644 on average on their winter trip
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It seems showbiz and partying are top of mind for Brits this winter as Movie and TV Tours, Theatre Shows and Musicals and Bar, Club and Pub Tours are some of the top trending experience types travellers are booking for Winter
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The Canary Islands, specifically Lanzarote and Tenerife, are creating a buzz as five of the top 10 fastest growing international destinations for UK travellers this Winter can be found on the two islands - both offer up warm weather at great value without having to travel far
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At home, Yorkshire is proving popular for Winter staycations as the county boasts three destinations in the top 10, including Sheffield at second place after Nottingham.
For those planning a Winter break but haven’t yet booked one, below is a full breakdown of the trending destinations, at home and abroad, for UK travellers this Winter, based on the biggest increase of searches for the Winter month as compared with Autumn.
We’ve also surfaced highly-rated hotel options with Winter availability, highly-rated restaurants and popular experiences and things to do to help build out a great winter break itinerary.
Most popular staycation destinations for Brits this Winter (and where to stay, play and eat)
Most popular international destinations for Brits this Winter (and where to stay, play and eat)
METHODOLOGY
The data cited in this release was gathered and analysed from two key sources:
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A Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Survey, based on data drawn from an online survey of over 2,400 consumers, in partnership with Qualtrics, conducted between 5th October, 2021through 14th October, 2021 across 8 countries (United States United Kingdom Australia Japan Italy Singapore Germany India)
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Site behavioral data sourced from first party traffic data on the Tripadvisor platform, gathered during the week commencing 18 October, 2021, for searches made by UK travellers from 1 Sept, 2021 through 15 Oct, 2021 for travel between 1 Nov, 2021 through 31 Jan, 2022.
NOTES TO EDITOR
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Popular experiences in each destination based on bookings on Tripadvisor made between Sept 1, 2021 - Oct 15, 2021 for travel between Nov 1, 2021 – Jan 31, 2022. Highly-rated hotels and restaurants sourced from Tripadvisor Popularity Index and Best Value sort between 27 October 2021 - 3 November 2021 and are based on stays in the middle of December.
For further information, contact ukpressoffice@tripadvisor.com
About Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform*, helps hundreds of millions of people each month** become better travelers, from planning to booking to taking a trip. Travelers across the globe use the Tripadvisor site and app to discover where to stay, what to do and where to eat based on guidance from those who have been there before. With more than 934 million reviews and opinions of nearly 8 million businesses, travelers turn to Tripadvisor to find deals on accommodations, book experiences, reserve tables at delicious restaurants and discover great places nearby. As a travel guidance company available in 43 markets and 22 languages, Tripadvisor makes planning easy no matter the trip type.
The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRIP), own and operate a portfolio of travel media brands and businesses, operating under various websites and apps, including the following websites:
www.bokun.io, www.cruisecritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com, www.helloreco.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.housetrip.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.seatguru.com, www.singleplatform.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, and www.viator.com.
* Source: SimilarWeb, unique users de-duplicated monthly, June 2021
** Source: Tripadvisor internal log files
