Travel found itself in a “sweet spot” during the first quarter with more spending on all types of holidays, according to research on consumer spending trends from Deloitte.

This rise in spending has been partly put down to the harsh winter weather - particularly the ‘Beast from the East’ in early March.

Deloitte’s research showed a 3% rise in consumer spending on longer holidays between January and March, compared with the same period last year, while there was also a 2% year-on-year increase in spending on shorter holidays.

The extra spending on holidays came despite a fall in virtually every other spending category - apart from attending live sport events - as consumers “tightened their belts” during the quarter.

“The cold spell prompted consumers to dream of warmer days with more consumers booking and spending money on holidays,” says Deloitte in its analysis.

But the news was not all good for the travel industry, with consumers set to reduce holiday spending during the second quarter of 2018 – by 10% on longer holidays and by 8% on shorter holidays compared with the same period last year.

“Consumers plan to spend less money in almost all of the leisure categories in Q2 2018,” adds Deloitte.

“Given that they have just spent money on their holidays, they have little intention to spend more in the coming months, leaving net spending on long breaks and short breaks significantly below the level seen last year.”