Economic realities see resurgence of cheap package holidays

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Travel industry experts have been predicting for years that the package holiday would die out due to the impact of the Internet. They indicated that travellers were piecing together their own holidays, organising flights, hotels and car hire directly from provider websites. It seems that the current economic downturn is leading to a reversal of that trend.

New figures released by web traffic specialist Hitwise are showing that travel sites are declining in popularity, with British Airways, for example, falling from 11th place on its top 100 list in the UK to 43rd, and budget carriers such as easyJet and Ryanair also moving down the list. Only one travel company, Thomson, saw its ranking improve.

“The figures show that package holidays are coming back into fashion,” said ABTA spokeswoman Clare Thomas, adding: “The combination of a low price and guaranteed protection should anything go wrong is making them attractive again.”

Travelsupermarket.com, an online travel comparison website, has reported an increase of 26 per cent in package holiday searches, and Thomas Cook has said that its all-inclusive bookings are up by 50 per cent year-on-year.

Although most major travel operators have cut their capacity for 2009, there are low-priced deals still available - even for the school holidays.

Thanks to www.guardian.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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