Once snobbishly consigned to the ‘bucket and spade brigade,’ package holidays are one of the fastest-growing products in UK travel. This lucrative opportunity to diversify revenue has not gone unnoticed by British Airways or easyJet, with both airlines rapidly expanding their highly profitable holiday divisions.
Spending on tours and activities may hit $300 billion by 2025. Expect to see more consolidation pressures, growth in demographic targeting, adoption of AI, and attempts to react to climate change.
For eSky, Thomas Cook's storied brand offers a shortcut to recognition in Western Europe. Or at least that's the wager of eSky's new private equity backer MCI Capital. As for Fosun, what will it sell next? Club Med?
Tiqets CEO Laurens Leurink says sales of travel experiences are booming. Gen Z and Millennials want cultural engagement, not checklist sightseeing. So with some help from AI, Tiqets has recently quadrupled its sales without adding staff.
TUI reported another record-breaking quarter with sales of tours and activities helping to boost profitability. TUI also gained from the collapse of smaller rival FTI.
Research firms and the tourism industry are bullish on the potential of India for both domestic and international travel. Credit Ratings agency CRISIL has projected that a record 30 million Indians will travel overseas this year.