The Advantage Travel Partnership is reporting bookings for travel over Christmas are up 44% compared to last year.

The increase – which has been seen across the UK-wide travel agency partnership – is based on bookings departing from 18-28 December. Since the beginning of October, 30% of all bookings have been for travel over the Christmas period.

The average stay is eight nights and there is high demand for all-inclusive holidays, which represents a 32% share of all Advantage Travel Partnership Christmas departures.

Tenerife is the most popular spot, taking 9% share of all Christmas departures and 40% share of Canary Island bookings. Long-haul flights make up 22% of all festive breaks this year with the US, Caribbean, Far East, Dubai & Australia high on the list. Closer to home, European City breaks took 7% of overall bookings during the period.

 “This long-running growth continues to demonstrate that people are still very much looking to catch up on missed trips from the COVID years and is also further evidence that people continue to prioritise travel,” said CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said.

“It also shows that with signs of the rise of inflation rates slowing, Brits are feeling cautiously optimistic, and that this growth should continue into the new year. 

“Ultimately, these Christmas trends are really encouraging for the UK outbound travel industry. The wide range of trips that are being booked shows that increasingly Brits for whatever reason they choose to travel are placing an even higher importance on getting away and booking their trips through a travel agent.”