The bad news for the travel industry is that consumers are still taking fewer holidays than normal, with 30% of respondents saying they have not taken a holiday in the last 12 months. However, there is a silver lining, with the balance of respondents saying their spend on holidays has increased over the last 12 months.
Excluding those surveyed who have not taken a holiday in the last 12 months, 15% of respondents have increased their holiday spend and 23% of the more regular holiday-takers have increased that spend further.
Findings show that consumers are returning to their preferred holiday destinations, although are still taking fewer holidays and spending less at the destination.
David Trunkfield, partner at PwC, said: "Improving economic conditions seem to have lifted consumer confidence and consumers who may have stayed at home over the last 2 summers are looking forward again to going on holiday abroad."
When asked about areas for cutting back on spending, consumers are less likely to cut back on holidays than at the start of the recession, with only 9.6% of respondents saying they would cut back on their main holiday and 4.6% saying they would cut back on short breaks or weekends away.
Over the next 12 months, those surveyed are more likely to cut down spend on clothing, shoes and accessories rather then cut down on their main holiday or short breaks. These findings are in contrast to a similar poll undertaken by PwC in June 2008, when holidays were the second most cited area on which consumers cut back their spend.
Trunkfield added: "Although the outlook for consumer spending remains subdued, it looks like consumers are done with cutting back on holiday spend and are looking to cut back on other areas of spend, like clothing, if they have to."
Consumers remain pessimistic about their personal circumstances, although the pre-budget gloom has lifted slightly. Young people and those from higher social-demographic groups remain the most optimistic about the outlook.
Trunkfield concluded: "Although more positive than at any time in the last 24 months, the outlook for leisure travel remains finely balanced, and it is unclear how leisure travel will perform over the next 12 months. We have yet to see a strong rebound in outbound passenger numbers, unlike after the last recession."
The latest IPS (International passenger survey) data suggests a softening of the decline in passenger volumes and expenditure, although still down year on year. Compared to the early 1990s recession, we are yet to see a major rebound in international passenger numbers.
2000 consumers were polled in an online survey over the first weekend of October.
