Greece Among ABTA’s Destinations to Watch, Consumer Confidence in Tourism Recovers

Photo © Mythical Peloponnese

The Peloponnese is among the destinations to watch, according to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), while consumer confidence in the tourism market is rising with holidaymakers planning to spend more, try out new activities and destinations, go local and celebrate life landmarks at special tourist spots.

In its annual Travel Trends Report released on December 27, ABTA singles out the Peloponnese as a “destination to watch” for 2015. Austria, Botswana, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Latvia, Spain’s La Gomera, Norway, the Pacific Coast in the U.S., Singapore and the Netherlands, also made the list.

According to the ABTA report, 20 percent of the survey participants said they plan to spend more and take additional holidays with the more affluent expected to boost growth in the travel industry in 2015.

The report reveals that holidaymakers are keen on getting the most out of their money with package deals that include activities, events, shows or multi-center holidays. They also said that they plan to explore new destinations and novel activities in 2015 with over a third (35 percent) saying they will travel to a country they have never been to before.

The report also found that two of the latest leading trends include going local and experiencing hands-on authentic holiday experiences with destination celebration travel — including weddings and anniversaries — taking the lead.

“We do expect to see the slow but steady signs of recovery that have been characteristic of 2014 continue into next year. We are seeing strong growth from the most affluent end of the market and we expect this to drive interest in luxury and tailor made packages. The rest of the market remains resilient with value for money continuing to be a priority. Holidaymakers want their holiday to work hard for them, whether that’s by offering new experiences, combining different destinations or simply delivering great value,” ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said.

At the same time, city breaks, which beat beach holidays as the most popular type of holiday in 2014, are expected to hold the top spot this year, with 43 percent planning a city break and 42 percent a beach holiday.

Panorama of Costa Navarino.

In the meantime, Messinia, in the Region of Peloponnese, will host this year’s ABTA Travel Convention at the Costa Navarino luxury coastal resort on 12-14 October.

The ABTA Travel Convention, considered to be a leading tourism sector event, is expected to attract over 600 U.K. travel agents/ABTA members, representatives from Google, Yahoo, TripAdvisor as well as travel writers from international media.

The ABTA Consumer Trends survey was conducted by Arkenford Ltd, which specializes in tourism and leisure market research, on a nationally representative sample of 2,001 consumers in the 12 months to July 2014.

Representing some 5,000 retail outlets and offices, with 1,200 members, ABTA has been active for over 60 years ensuring the sustainable and successful growth of tourism-related businesses.