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Prices cut on a million unsold sunshine breaks
Last updated at 23:52pm on 26.06.07
The best bargain are to be found in Spain
The biggest savings are on trips to Spain, with the average price of a family holiday to the Costa Blanca down £240 - 14 per cent - on last year.
Industry research shows prices to 15 of the top 30 destinations have fallen against last year.
For someone able to take advantage of a last-minute deal, a Mediterranean holiday can be bought for as little as £75 per person.
Some industry figures believe that the traditional mass market package holiday, where flights and accommodation are bolted together by a tour operator, faces oblivion.
Increasingly, families are chasing a bargain break by putting together their own DIY holiday by booking flights and accommodation separately.
Budget airlines such as Ryanair have launched an aggressive pricecutting campaign on summer flights to holiday hotspots in an effort to turn the screw on tour operators.
At the same time, travellers are increasingly looking beyond the traditional sun and sea destinations of Spain and Greece for more exotic holidays.
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Rising interest rates and increased consumer debt have prompted many to put off booking a summer break until the last minute in the hope of getting a cut-price deal.
Many in the industry fear some leading tour operators will be unable to survive the turmoil.
The crisis in the package holiday industry was confirmed yesterday when Thomas Cook revealed it is to close 150 stores and six offices, threatening up to 2,800 jobs. The closure plans follow the completion of an £8billion merger with rival MyTravel, which went through earlier this month.
The study on prices for the cost of a holiday for a family of four was put together by the travel agency Co-op Travel.
The head of the chain, Mike Greenacre, said: "This is good news for everyone, especially parents with school-age children as prices have fallen throughout the whole of the school holiday period."
Holidaymakers are also being tempted with incentives. For instance, the Co-op is giving them 50 euros, or the equivalent in the currency for their destination, on bookings worth £750 or more.
Lucy Huxley, editor of the industry magazine Travel Trade Gazette, said tour operators were struggling to cope with the latest cut-price offers from budget airlines.
"There are a fair few traditional operators who haven't a hope of competing," she said.
"In fact it will probably drive some over the edge."
Reader views (1)
And about time too! At last the public have finally wised up to these package tour operators who overprice their not-so-good holidays. It stands to reason that booking a cheap flight and your own hotel direct is going to save an absolute fortune. I have been booking my own holidays in this way for years, the main reason being is that as a lone traveller, I am heavily penalised by the package tour operators for having hotel accommodation just for myself as they charge on a "per head" basis, the minimum number of persons being two per room or having to pay a hefty supplement for the privilege of sleeping on a room on my own. However, booking hotel accommodation direct means that I am paying for a hotel room NOT for a place in a hotel room. I'm so glad things are changing and hopefully the low cost flights and DIY day of booking holidays will also help those poor parents who are excessively penailsed for taking their children on holiday during the school holidays. Package tour operators are and always have been extremely greedy and complacent and now it's come back to bite them!
- Jessie, London, 27/06/2007 11:49
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