LONDON, February 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
• Thomas Cooks has investigated the priorities for
British travellers in 2013
• Beach holidays
the most popular option for winter and summer fun
• Personal gadgets
named must-have holiday accessory as third of kids' holiday with a
smart device
After one of the wettest years on record, Thomas Cook's December surveys have revealed a
general public eager to get away in 2013. Here are the hotly tipped
holiday trends for the coming twelve months, showcasing just what
it is that Brits consider vitally important on their trips
abroad.
Fun in the sun
Top summer and winter holiday destinations reveal people are
craving sunny beach holidays for 2013 after a damp
2012. Turkey and
Tunisia are the respective
winners, both of which have beautiful Mediterranean coastlines and
more than comfortable climates. New
York, the predicted top long haul destination, is
considerably less sunny and sandy but definitely a vibrant and
cultural choice. The number two spot went to Thailand which has all four reasons to visit
New York in abundance.
Contact with home
Something else Thomas Cook discovered was that the
availability of Wi-Fi in hotels is increasingly important to
holidaymakers with over 28% of those surveyed saying it was very
important or even vital. Considering the fact that a third of kids
now take a smart device away with them, even family holidays
need to come with easy access to Wi-Fi as part of the package to
keep everyone happy! That's why Thomas
Cook has acted to make over 1,000 hotels with Wi-Fi access
available in its summer 2013 programme.
More reason to travel
As some of the reasons given for not going abroad in 2012
included watching the Olympic Games and the Diamond Jubilee,
holiday bookings are expected to rise in 2013 with these major
events missing from the calendar.
The holiday search
Thomas Cook not only researched
where and how we want to holiday, they also surveyed the methods
used to research and book holidays. The results confirmed
that there has been a predictable shift towards holiday shopping
online. We are increasingly using tablets and smartphones to access
these deals too with around 30% of the UK's travel related searches
made on such devices.
In light of these findings Thomas
Cook have made the move to develop a fully mobile-optimised
website that will make using Thomas
Cook's site far more appealing to a significant number of
potential customers.
While electronic devices might be popular for research, 46% of
customers still prefer to book holidays face-to-face. Omni-channel
rather than a single channel retail environment is 3.5 times more
profitable than the latter with Thomas
Cook investing in stylish, inviting and modern stores to
entice customers in response to this.
SOURCE Thomas Cook