Greece Drops to #3 Among Popular Destinations for Brits, Says Thomas Cook

Cook’s Club Hersonissos Crete. Photo source: Cook’s Club Hotels

Thomas Cook’s 2019 Holiday Report sees growth in all-inclusive

Greece ranks third among the top five destinations of Thomas Cook for summer 2019, dropping one place from last year, according to the UK tour operator’s 2019 Holiday Report.

Thomas Cook said on Monday that in a year of political turmoil, more British holidaymakers are choosing countries outside of the EU for their summer vacations.

Based on tour operator and flight-only bookings up until February 28, Spain (mainland Spain, the Balearics and the Canary Islands) is once again the top destination of UK travelers for summer 2019. Turkey comes in second place, pushing Greece to third, followed by the United States and Cyprus.

To date, 48 percent of Thomas Cook’s UK package holiday bookings for this summer are to non-Euro destinations, up 10 percentage points on the same time last year.

Source: Thomas Cook’s 2019 UK Holiday Report

Turkey overtakes Greece, claims the number two spot

As revealed by the report, Turkey is the biggest beneficiary of this shift, leapfrogging Greece to become this summer’s second most popular package holiday destination – at this point in 2018 it ranked at number three.

Additionally, Turkey accounts for a quarter of all Thomas Cook Airlines flight-only bookings so far.

“Aside from its attractiveness for being outside of the EU, Turkey’s value for money and diversity, with sandy beaches, salt lakes and ancient ruins, is driving its position as a 2019 tourism hotspot,” an announcement by Thomas Cook said.

SENTIDO Blue Sea Beach Hotel by Thomas Cook, Crete, Greece.

Tunisia works its way back up the popularity stakes 

Moreover, Thomas Cook revealed that Tunisia is also faring well.

Source: Thomas Cook’s 2019 UK Holiday Report

“In what will be its second summer back on the map for British holidaymakers, package bookings to Tunisia are double what they were compared to last year and flight-only bookings with Thomas Cook Airlines are up four-fold,” the tour operator said.

Thomas Cook also underlined that the prolonged uncertainty around the manner and timing of Britain’s exit from the European Union has led many to delay their decision on when and where they book for their summer holidays.

However, the report showed that an overseas summer holiday remains as important as ever to the nation. More than half of those surveyed say they are more likely to holiday abroad than last year and over a quarter claim that a foreign holiday is higher on their spending priorities than in 2018 – only 8% said it was lower.

Thomas Cook’s 2019 UK Holiday Report also revealed that all-inclusive is proving popular, as to date, 66 percent of Thomas Cook’s package holiday bookings are all-inclusive – slightly up on 2018 – as customers “lock in” costs for food and drink to avoid losing out to the unsteady British Pound.