Holidays to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey soar in price

Holidays to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey soar in price wp header logo 462
Abi Smitton, Colletta Smith & Tommy Lumby

BBC News

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All-inclusive family package holidays from the UK have jumped in price for some of the most popular destinations, including Spain, Cyprus and Turkey.

The average price for a week in Cyprus in August has gone up by 23%, from £950 per person to £1,166, figures compiled for the BBC by TravelSupermarket show.

Of the top 10 most-searched countries, Italy and Tunisia are the only ones to see prices drop by 11% and 4% respectively compared with 2024.

Travel agents say holidaymakers are booking shorter stays or travelling mid-week to cut costs.

The top five destinations in order of most searched are: Spain, Greece, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Portugal. They have all seen price rises.

Trips to the UAE have seen the biggest jump, up 26% from £1,210 in August 2024 to £1,525 this year.

Cyprus had the next biggest rise and came in at number nine in terms of search popularity.

The figures are based on online searches, made on TravelSupermarket from 18 April to 17 June, for all-inclusive, seven-night family holidays in August 2024 and 2025.

While this snapshot of data reveals a general trend, costs will vary depending on exactly where a family goes and when they book.

Holidays to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey soar in price 1752109978 197 grey placeholderA dumbbell chart showing the average cost per person of a one-week package holiday in August 2024 and August 2025, by country. Figures are based on search data collected by TravelSupermarket, covering 18 April to 17 June, and countries are listed in order of popularity by number of searches. The average cost for Spain rose from £835 to £914, for Greece it rose from £926 to £1,038, for Turkey it rose from £874 to £1,003, for the UAE it rose from £1,210 to £1,525, for Portugal it rose from £936 to £972, for Egypt it rose from £981 to £1,176, for Italy it fell from £1,266 to £1,129, for Tunisia it fell from £794 to £763, for Cyprus it rose from £950 to £1,166, and for Malta it rose from £804 to £866.  Holidays to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey soar in price 91cfd3e0 5cc3 11f0 a40e a1af2950b220

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of travel agent industry group Advantage Travel Partnership, said the price rises were down to a number of factors.

“These increases simply keep pace with the broader cost of doing business and reflect the reality of higher operational costs, from increased energy bills affecting hotels, to elevated food costs impacting restaurants and rising wages across the hospitality sector,” she said.

But she added the group had seen evidence that some holidaymakers still had money to spend.

Some customers were upgrading to more premium all-inclusive packages and booking more expensive cabin seats on long-haul flights to locations such as Dubai, she said.

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Ellie Mooney said she’s spent the last year saving up for her holiday to Turkey

Holiday destinations are a frequent topic of conversation at the hairdressers.

At Voodou in Liverpool, Ellie Mooney talked to us as she got a last-minute trim before jetting off to Turkey.

“We’ve been going for the past 20 years or so. We normally book a year ahead then save up in dribs and drabs,” she said.

Hope Curran, 21, was getting her highlights done and she and her partner had just got back from holiday in Rhodes in Greece.

“We did an all-inclusive trip because it was a bit more manageable, but it’s not cheap,” she said.

Holidays to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey soar in price 1752109978 197 grey placeholderFrancesca Ramsden A family of four stand on a platform overlooking a mountain and coastline. On the left is a tall man wearing a blue top and sunglasses, in the middle is a boy with a black cap and white top, on the right is a woman in sunglasses and an animal print top and in front is a young girl in a white dress  Holidays to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey soar in price 13c5ecf0 5c9b 11f0 8547 e5153bdee31dFrancesca Ramsden

Nurse Francesca Ramsden says she spends thousands of hours hunting for the best deals

End of life care nurse Francesca Ramsden, 35, from Rossendale, has made it her mission to cut the cost of holidays, saving where she can and hunting for a bargain at every turn.

“My husband is sick of me, he’ll ask ‘have you found anything yet’ and I’ll say no, rocking in the corner after looking for 10,000 hours.

“The longest I’ve booked a holiday in advance is two to three months and I find that the closer you get, the cheaper it is.”

She said she spent hours trying to save as much as possible on a May half-term break to Fuerte Ventura for her family of four which came in at £1,600.

She now shares her budgeting tips on social media.

“I’ve mastered the art of packing a week’s worth of clothes into a backpack. I always book the earliest or latest flight I can, and midweek when it’s cheaper.”

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Travel consultant Luke says people are getting creative to save money

Luke Fitzpatrick, a travel consultant at Perfect Getaways in Liverpool, said people were cutting the length of their holidays to save money.

“Last year we did a lot for 10 nights and this year we’ve got a lot of people dropping to four or seven nights, just a short little weekend vacation, just getting away in the sun,” he said.

He has also seen more people choosing to wait until the last minute to book a trip away.

“People are coming in with their suitcases asking if they can go away today or tomorrow,” he added.

“Yesterday we had a couple come in with their passports and we got them on a flight last night from Liverpool to Turkey.”

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How to save money on your holiday

  • Choose a cheaper location. A UK holiday eliminates travel and currency costs, but overseas destinations vary a lot too
  • To decide whether all-inclusive will save you money, first look at local costs for eating out and don’t forget about drinks and airport transfers
  • Travel outside the school holidays if you can
  • Booking early can help, especially if you have to travel at peak times
  • Check whether you can get a cheaper flight by travelling mid-week
  • Haggle. Call the travel agent to see if they can better the price you found online
  • Choose destinations where the value of the pound is strong. This year that includes Turkey, Bulgaria and Portugal

Source: Which? and TravelSupermarket

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