Foreign holiday costs down -4.2% - but these holiday destinations will cost you a lot more

Research by hotel booking platform, hoo, reveals how the price of foreign holidays has changed since UK travel restrictions have started to ease, finding that some holidays are more affordable today than they have been for a long time, just so long as travellers are willing to jump on board a long haul flight.

Back in May of this year, when global travel restrictions were still very stringent, hoo’s research shows that the average price for a foreign holiday was just over £101 per night per person.

The latest data from hoo shows that despite restrictions easing to some extent, the average price of a holiday has fallen even further to £96.87, a decline of -4.2%.

But, over this same period of time, some of the most popular holiday destinations for UK travellers have become dramatically more expensive.

Dubai has seen one of the largest hikes in the cost of a holiday, no doubt helped by Instagram influencers fleeing lockdown restrictions in order to keep their social timelines topped up with poolside selfies.  In May, the average nightly price for a holiday to Dubai was just over £77 but this has since increased by 18% to over £91 per night.

A holiday to Paris, Europe’s city of love, has increased by 17% per night since May, while a trip to Spain’s elegant and historic capital city, Madrid, now costs £63 per person, per night - an increase of 14%.

Other destinations that are now more expensive for a foreign holiday include New Delhi, India (up 11%), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (+7%), Rome, Italy (+6.5%), Wellington, New Zealand (+4%), and Sydney, Australia (+2.4%).

The good news for holidaymakers is that a number of global holiday destinations have become more affordable since May. The downside is most of these destinations can only be reached via a long haul flight.

Nowhere has seen a bigger drop in prices than Cape Town, South Africa, roughly a 15-hour flight from London, but the cost of a holiday has fallen by -23% per night.

Toronto, Canada, around eight hours from London will now set you back £99 per night on average, a decrease of 22%.

Singapore, a 13-hour flight away from the UK, has seen prices decrease by more than 17% per night from £113,50 in May to £94 in September.

If you don’t fancy travelling long haul, a holiday to Istanbul is now -16.4% more affordable and just four hours by plane.

The other global destinations where average holiday prices have declined since May 2021 are Hong Kong (-15.6%), Cairo, Egypt (-11.5%), New York, USA (-10.4%), Athens, Greece (-9.8%), Lisbon, Portugal (-6.1%), and Beijing, China (-5.8%).

hoo Co-founder, Adrian Murdock, commented:

“With widespread travel restrictions remaining in place, the average cost of a holiday has continued to fall across many destinations as holiday providers try to tempt us to foreign shores.

However, a turbulent year for many holidaymakers has seen price become a secondary consideration with greater certainty and ease of travel the number one concern.

As a result, demand has climbed for holidays to European destinations that have the least number of travel requirements and this has pushed up prices in those instances. However, Turkey, Greece and Portugal stand out as better value for money.

But if you’re willing to stray further from home, it’s hard to remember a time when prices were so affordable and it’s fair to say that there’s never been a better time to book a holiday to some of the more far flung destinations on offer.”