MADRID, June 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — All-inclusive package holidays have jumped in price for Mediterranean hotspots including Majorca and Crete.
The average price of a week with full food and board in Majorca in Spain is up 21%. Prices for Tenerife have risen more than 22%, figures from TravelSupermarket showed.
Crete in Greece is 25% more expensive than last year.
Overall the most popular destinations, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus have gone up by nearly 12%.
Prices for countries beyond the Med have also risen, according to the figures compiled by the price comparison website.
That has left people paying significantly more than they did last year for the same holiday.
TravelSupermarket calculates the average using the results of searches for holidays in the given destinations. While this shows a general trend, exact costs will vary depending on location and time of booking.
The average of the top five most popular destinations for UK travellers has risen by 11.9% since last year, but there is variation between countries. The average package price has risen fastest in Spain, up nearly 15%, but only by 5% in Portugal.
Compared to before the pandemic the average price across the top five destinations is up more than 30%, well above the rate of general inflation since 2019.
One common trick, to wait until the last minute to see if prices fall, may not work this year, according to Richard Singer, chief executive of TravelSupermarket.
“It is unlikely that prices will fall substantially for this summer,” he says, because despite higher prices, demand is outstripping supply.
“Prices for next year are looking on a par with this year,” he adds.
Beyond travel and accommodation, holidaymakers will also have to fork out more money to leave their car at the airport. The average rate per night went up by nearly 10% this year, from just over £13 in May last year to more than £14.
The cost of travel insurance is also up by around 10%.
There is one cost, however, that has come down: car hire. After spiking higher last summer as operators struggled to scale back up after the pandemic, hiring a car this August has become more affordable. For example, the average daily rate for hiring a car in Ireland dropped from £203 in August last year to just £48 this August. Rates in Croatia, Italy, Spain and the United Arab Emirates have also dropped by more than 40%. — NNN-AGENCIES
