Families face rising costs on holidays abroad
Over two thirds (68%) of families will be heading abroad this year, according to our Family Holiday Report 2024, created in partnership with travel company TUI.
Our research¹ found three quarters (73%) of families overspent by a record 55% on their last trip, splurging an extra £312 on their average budget of £566. The biggest culprits? Food and drink.
In fact, over 90% of parents admitted they spent an average of £378 on eating out, buying drinks in bars and restaurants, and shop-bought food and beverages.
But that’s not all. Almost nine in ten (88%) of parents said caving in to children’s demands for beach items had set them back an average of £202 on their last holiday.
The findings follow our Holiday Spending Report, which revealed overspending abroad is a common trend. Here, we found 67% of British holidaymakers went over budget on their last trip abroad.
Where your family holiday budget goes furthest
As the cost of living goes up, sticking to your travel budget is more important than ever. To better understand costs, our report includes the Family Holiday Costs Barometer. We compared the prices for 10 family holiday essentials in 16 popular European resorts by TUI². The items include lunch and evening meals, snacks, drinks, suncream and insect repellent.
Although prices have risen in 12 of the 16 European resorts we surveyed, families could still save money by choosing their destination carefully.
Key findings:
- At just over £110 for 10 items, Sunny Beach, Bulgaria offers budget-conscious families the best resort prices. That’s despite a 9.8% rise since last July
- Last year’s best-value resort, Marmaris, Turkey, is now in second place. UK holidaymakers can now expect to spend 17.6% more on holiday essentials than they did last year
- In third place, the Algarve remains easily the best value of 14 eurozone destinations surveyed. But the Portuguese region also saw price rises of 18.4% from last year
- Ibiza (16th place) was the most expensive destination surveyed. Holiday items in Ibiza cost twice as much as they do in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria
- Prices went up in three-quarters of resorts. Costs in Ibiza rose by 14.7%, in Madeira by 11.5% and in Corfu by 11.3%. Elsewhere, Paphos in Cyprus remains good value with a modest rise of just 4%
- Four destinations saw prices fall. Lanzarote (7th place) saw the biggest drop of 7.2% compared to last year, with Majorca (1.2%, 9th), Costa del Sol (0.7%, 4th) and Crete (0.2%, 15th) following behind
