UK summer bookings jump as Britons put off overseas holidays by travel fears

Britons are booking more summer breaks at home as fears over overseas travel, higher costs and EU border delays push some holidaymakers toward staycations.

Holiday park operator Lovat Parks said summer bookings are up 35% year on year. Awaze, which runs holiday rental brands including cottages and lodges, said bookings near lakes and lochs are up 12% year on year, while riverside properties are also up 12%.

Booking.com said UK travellers’ domestic summer trip searches are up 10% compared with last year.

The shift comes as some travellers weigh flight-cancellation worries, higher jet fuel costs and long delays at EU borders. The trend suggests more people are booking later and choosing trips closer to home rather than abandoning holidays altogether.

A stronger pull towards staycations

The reported gains point to a clear tilt toward domestic travel this summer, particularly for holiday parks, lodges and self-catering breaks. The strongest demand appears to be concentrated in places near water, including lakes, lochs and riverside locations.

For operators, that is a welcome sign after a period in which many consumers have been cautious about spending on discretionary travel. For travellers, it appears to reflect a desire to reduce uncertainty rather than to stop holidaying altogether.

That pattern is also consistent with more last-minute booking behaviour. Instead of committing early to trips abroad, some holidaymakers appear to be waiting before deciding whether to travel overseas at all.

EU border worries build

Concerns around Europe’s new Entry/Exit System have been building since spring. The system requires biometric registration for non-EU travellers and became fully operational across Schengen countries in April, according to later reporting and EU references.

A Guardian report on June 9 said the system was already contributing to delays at some European airports. That report also quoted Abta saying 38% of potential holidaymakers had delayed booking their summer trips.

Pressure intensified as the peak travel season approached. On July 1, airlines and airport groups called on the European Commission to suspend EES checks during the busiest holiday period. On July 2, Ryanair warned of summer “queue chaos” at EU airports over fingerprint checks.

The reporting suggests that even the prospect of slower border processing is influencing booking choices before travellers reach the airport.

Mixed messages from industry and Brussels

The travel industry’s warnings have not gone unanswered. The Financial Times reported that an EU Commission spokesperson said the system is fully operational and that most long waits are instead driven by staffing shortages, infrastructure limits or concentrated flight slots.

That dispute matters because holidaymakers are being asked to interpret very different assessments of the same problem. Airlines and airport groups say the system is contributing to severe disruption at some airports. The Commission says the main bottlenecks lie elsewhere.

Either way, the uncertainty is landing in the same place: on consumers deciding whether to book abroad now or wait.

What the numbers show

Taken together, the latest figures point to a stronger domestic market than many UK operators were expecting at the start of summer. Lovat Parks’ 35% rise is the sharpest figure in the reporting. Awaze’s 12% increase for stays near lakes and lochs, and for riverside properties, points to demand for scenic domestic breaks rather than generic city trips.

Booking.com’s 10% rise in UK domestic summer searches suggests the shift is not limited to a single operator. It also indicates that interest in home-based trips is showing up earlier in the booking funnel, not just in completed reservations.

The backdrop matters for broader travel planning. Higher jet fuel costs, flight-cancellation fears and border delays together make overseas travel feel less predictable at a time when many households are still sensitive to price and disruption.

What to watch next

The key question is whether more operators report similar year-on-year gains as July and August progress. If they do, it would strengthen the case that this is a broad summer trend rather than a one-off spike.

Another question is whether queues or operational problems worsen at airports in Spain, France, Italy and other reported hotspots. More visible disruption would likely reinforce the move toward staycations.

Travel companies will also be watching whether higher jet fuel costs continue to feed through into fares. If overseas trips become more expensive as well as more uncertain, domestic holiday demand could stay elevated for the rest of the summer.

For now, the evidence points in one direction: Britons are still taking summer breaks, but more of them are choosing to do it closer to home.