Research reveals nearly nine million Brits face cancelling US and European holidays

• Would-be holidaymakers have spent an average £1,840 on holidays in 2021

• More than one in three have splashed out on more expensive holidays as a post pandemic travel treat

​​​​​Nearly nine million holidaymakers face potentially having to cancel or rearrange travel to the US or mainland Europe that they booked before the introduction of new travel restrictions, new research (1) from UK-based banking, crypto, FX and investment app Ziglu shows.

Its study, conducted before new rules requiring people travelling to the UK to submit evidence of a negative COVID test before returning and new French restrictions on UK holidaymakers. Combine this with tighter rules on vaccinations in many popular destinations; found nearly one in five adults - around 8.99 million adults - had booked trips to mainland Europe or the US for the next six months.

They have spent an average £1,840 on their trips abroad. With more than one in three saying that they had splashed out on more expensive holidays than usual as a treat after not being able to travel freely recently.

Those spending more are on average paying £1,000 extra for their trips, but around 570,000 Brits say they have spent an additional £2,000 on top of the usual amount they would spend on a holiday.

For many it is a holiday of a lifetime - around two-fifths of those booked to go to the US have never been before, while nearly half (47%) last visited two to three years ago. A third of those booked for European destinations have not been for more than two years.

The research by Ziglu, which offers interest-bearing investment accounts alongside its sterling current account plus US dollar and Euro accounts and a curated selection of cryptocurrencies, found another 15% of adults were planning to book holidays in the next six months before new restrictions were introduced.

 Mark Hipperson, Founder and CEO of Ziglu said: “The Omicron variant has forced Governments around the world to introduce new restrictions to help slow the spread and this means disruption for millions of people who have booked holidays.

“The decision whether or not to travel will be difficult given the need for COVID tests and the possibility of having to quarantine with all the disruption that leads to. The inevitable result will be that many cancel or postpone their trips.

“Travel companies and some airlines are trying their best to be flexible regarding refunds, but many holidaymakers will end up out of pocket as a result of the changes.”

Created by Starling Bank founder Mark Hipperson, Ziglu offers current account services, FX, investments and enables customers to buy and sell a range of cryptocurrencies.  Ziglu is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and fully authorised as an Electronic Money Institution and believes increased regulation is crucial to the long-term future of the market.

Headquartered in London, Ziglu was one of the first firms to be both authorised by the UK FCA as an e-money institution and registered as a crypto services provider and is the only firm to also be authorised across all of Europe by the Danish FSA for e-money and crypto services.