According to a new report commissioned by Teletext Holidays, nearly a third of British holidaymakers feel ripped off when they are booking their family holiday.
For years now, In2town have been saying that travel agents and travel companies need to start living in the real world and start offering value for money instead of holidays for a family of four costing more than £4,000 in peak season and it seems it is not just In2town who are unhappy with the travel industry. The Great British Holiday Report survey 1,775 British Holidaymakers and it seems 31% of them felt the same way as In2town, we are being ripped off.
Teletext Holidays have said they believe people are unhappy with travel companies over the culture of extras that are added onto the final price.
“It is certainly the case that the travel industry has undergone major changes, especially with the growth in no frills, low-cost airlines,” said Amy Patel from Teletext Holidays.
“The cost cutting that needs to go into creating these cheap flights have had a massive impact on how package holidays are put together today. By regulation, our governing bodies state that any two items sold at the same time constitute a package holiday.
“Therefore, more often than not, the all new package holiday now consists of only a flight and the accommodation. This in itself is not unusual for the customer, as there have always been extras to pay for; these include insurance and airport parking etc.
“However this has introduced a new culture of extras, like transfers and fees which are often added at a later stage in the booking process. This saw the emergence of a new trend in the holiday market, something we call the dynamic package holiday.”
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The Teletext Holiday Report found that 23% of British Holidaymakers book their holiday within two months of travel and 67% book within six months of departure which is not great news for the high street travel agent who earn more money if holidaymakers book their holiday more than eight months before travel.
The holiday report also looked at the popular holiday destinations, according to the people who were surveyed; Spain came out on top with France as a close second.
The Most popular holiday destinations are as follows:
1.Spain
2.France
3.USA
4.Greece
5.Italy