Self-catering the dish of the day as Britons cut holiday costs
Self-catering the dish of the day as Britons cut holiday costs
The cost of the great British getaway is set to take off as new figures show that a new air tax could push the price of a break up by £90, TravelWeekly reports. However, rising costs are not putting canny holidaymakers off, as further figures from on online travel company show that self-catering holidays are proving more popular than ever.
Travel Weekly describes how figures from the British Air Transport Association (BATA) show that by 2011, it could cost the average British family £250 just to leave the country, if they want to travel outside of Europe, up from £160 today. This 56 per cent increase is part of a government plan to scrap the current "Air Passenger Duty" (APD) and replace it with a new "Aviation Duty", which would be levied on every plane taking off from Britain's runways.
The new tax, announced by chancellor Alistair Darling in his Pre Budget Report last year, would swell the government's coffers - the Treasury expects the duty to raise over £3.5 billion in 2011/12, a huge increase from the £971 million the APD generated in 2006/7. This equates to almost a four-fold increase in just five years.
Nevertheless, there are ways of using the tax to your advantage. Roger Wiltshire, secretary general of BATA, explained that it would offer foreign airlines an advantage and could bring some costs down for passengers if they broke their long-haul journey up: "The introduction of Aviation Duty would subsidise foreign airlines and airports because it would make it cheaper for people to connect to a continental hub such as
Paris and fly long-haul from there rather than take a direct long-haul flight from the UK. Passengers who choose to make their long-haul journey via an airport in another EU state would benefit from a windfall reduction on duty of 75 per cent." Wiltshire added that such passengers currently pay around £40 long-haul APD, but in future this would drop to around £10 short-haul aviation duty.
However, holiday-home owners should not despair. Despite the soaring costs of everyday life, the British public is not planning on jettisoning their annual holiday. Holidayextras reports that a survey by price comparison site Kayak showed that 60 per cent of British holidaymakers were looking to reduce their costs by booking a self-catering holiday rather than eating out. 30 per cent were also prepared to lighten their load by taking less luggage with them.
Where there's a will, there's a way, as Annie Wilson, business development director of Kayak, points out: "It's clear that sun-starved Brits value summer holidays far too highly to do without. Even holidaymakers who might already have a smaller travel budget...can still find affordable deals and won't have to miss out on taking a summer break."
This story was brought to you by holiday
lettings.co.uk, the UK's No.1 holiday home website.
29 April 2008
Print this article
