Jetsettersblog

With time and money precious in the run up to Christmas, sun-hungry travellers are still looking to get away but are seeking to maximise their holiday and minimise their costs by booking 8 and 9 night breaks a recent study by Monarch Holidays can reveal.

Over the past year, Monarch has noted a change in the typical holiday durations being taken by customers, with a sharp increase being seen in non-standard durations. Bookings for 7 night durations throughout Summer 2009 and forward bookings for Winter 2009 and Summer 2010 have remained constant and little change has been seen in volumes verses previous years.

Real growth has been seen in the weekend breaks market (3 and 4 night durations), plus 8 and 9 night durations which grew 191% and 124% respectively in Summer 2009 and are already showing growth of 1200% and 2475% respectively for Summer 2010. Conversely, standard 14 night durations were down 14% in Summer 2009 and are currently down a further 2.5% for Summer 2010.

A shift in the board basis being booked is also evident with strong growth being seen in all inclusive and self catering holidays, both to the detriment of half board holidays.

Bookings for all inclusive holidays rose 26.5% in Summer 2009 and are already up 27.3% for Summer 2010 with self catering bookings following a similar pattern – up 24% and 14.7% respectively. Half board holidays were down 11.3% in Summer 2009 and a further 8.6% for Sumer 2010.

Commenting on the changing booking patterns for Monarch’s holidays, managing director of Monarch Flights and Holidays, Liz Savage said, “We have spent a good deal of time understanding the changing booking profiles of Monarch customers and what they are looking for from their holidays.

The great news is that people are still looking to get away. A recent poll on www.monarch.co.uk revealed that 70% of customers are planning a winter sun break this year, with a further 11% confirming they are planning a ski holiday. Only 19% of those surveyed stated that they would not be going away this winter.*

“The changing holiday durations and board basis is a clear sign that travelling habits are changing and customers are managing their time and budgets more effectively. 8 and 9 night holiday durations enable holiday makers to take only 5 days leave from work and incorporate two weekends into their time away, meaning the maximum time away for a minimal time off work.

The attraction of all inclusive holidays is mainly due to the decreasing value of the pound and families looking to lock their costs in prior to travel.

Also, the huge increase in holidays being taken outside of the Eurozone, particularly Egypt, where 90% of all holidays booked are on an all-inclusive basis.”

Monarch operates scheduled and charter flights from a number of UK airports, including Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester.

Scheduled flights operate to destinations throughout Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Gibraltar, whilst charter services operate worldwide.

In addition to flights, Monarch also now offers a huge range of great value holidays, accommodation options, car hire and travel insurance, all of which can be booked via monarch.co.uk.

For further information or to book Monarch flights, Monarch Holidays or Monarch Hotels, please visit www.monarch.co.uk