Recent surveys conducted by travel trade association Abta, reveal that demand for foreign holidays has increased to pre-pandemic levels and many travel agents and tour operators are already reporting record sales despite the cost of living crisis.
According to the survey of 2,000 UK adults conducted in February by research company Savanta, 62% of respondents had taken a foreign holiday in the previous 12 months, up from 16% in August 2021.
Another survey commissioned by ABTA discovered that 65% of people were planning a foreign holiday in the next 12 months and 37% had already booked one.
Abta attributes the increase in demand to people's craving for "freedom".
The Independent reported on the result of the survey, whilst The Mirror focused on the journey leading up to the survey.
The former wrote that the survey was commissioned by Abta, conducted by Savanta and released a year after the UK lifted the last of its complex Covid travel restrictions.
Whereas The Mirror highlighted that many travel agents and tour operators are now reporting record sales, despite the cost of living crisis.
In his weekly opinion column for The Independent, Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, discussed the increase in demand for foreign holidays.
He acknowledged that the crisis is not globally over and that many countries still have travel restrictions.
Calder emphasised that the pandemic has highlighted the need to have a clear-cut approach to foreign travel.
Whilst both The Independent and The Mirror agree that demand for foreign holidays has returned to pre-pandemic levels, The Mirror provided additional information that 37% of people had already booked their foreign holiday.
It also states that many travel agents and tour operators have reported record sales, despite the cost of living crisis.