The Advantage Travel Partnership said consumers were starting to think “more carefully” about discretionary spending with cost-of-living pressures rising on almost a daily basis. “The challenge is not necessarily a lack of desire to travel but greater caution around committing," said a spokesperson.
Deben Travel owner Lee Hunt confirmed “things are quieter”. “Business is down," he said. "We’re getting a lot of people saying they’re going to wait and see.”
Ashdown Travel’s head of retail Tricia Lester agreed with Hunt’s assessment. “We're not hitting targets this month,” she said. “People are just taking longer to turn around the enquiries. We've got them bubbling, but they're just holding off committing.”
Agents say demand is shifting to destinations in the western Mediterranean and also the Caribbean, both of which are viewed by consumers to be safer alternatives located away from the Middle East crisis.
Advantage said its members were landing “good-high value bookings” for destinations even further afield such as South Africa, New Zealand and South America. Its spokesperson said customers who are going into members’ branches “generally just want to get away”.
“The main European destinations seem like the safer option for many, both from a security perspective and cost,” they added.
Travel Counsellors stressed demand is simply “demand redistributing rather than declining”. However, demand for Cyprus and Turkey, two traditional holiday destinations for Brits, has weakened in recent weeks despite the Foreign Office not changing its travel advice for areas popular with tourists.
'Hassle-free travel'
Chris Logan, Tui UK&I commercial director, said: “We're seeing an appetite for hassle-free travel, with customers prioritising familiar destinations they can reach easily and enjoy from the moment they land. The Western Mediterranean ticks all the boxes.”
Henbury Travel owner Richard Slater said his Macclesfield-based agency had had “a couple of quieter weeks” but added some clients travelling to Cyprus soon wanted to either extend their trip or get a better room.
"It's only the 30-40 age group that are causing us any aggravation with Cyprus, and want to switch to Lanzarote and things like that. The older generations don't mind,” he continued.
Sign up to the TTG Daily newsletter
Receive the latest travel trade stories, insights and analysis every weekday.
Hunt echoed what Slater had seen, saying: “We had a Cyprus wedding cancellation, and other cancellations for Cyprus as well.
“Generally, we'd be getting a lot of summer bookings for Cyprus as well, and that's just not happening at the moment. But I can imagine for agencies who do have Turkey as one of their top sellers, I would have thought they would be struggling.”
However, Slater highlighted the problems created when the FCDO fails to soften its advice for Brits transiting through the Middle East.
"I've worked through the 1991 and the 2003 Gulf wars. The only thing that's really a pain in the backside this time around, is that the government hasn't relaxed FCDO advice for transiting through the Middle East,” he explained.
“The government did that for the previous two wars, too."
On Middle East bookings, Travel Counsellors said customers are either rebooking to alternative destinations or “slightly adjusting their plans”.
But the homeworking giant added: “In many cases, customers are still keen to travel within the next 12 months, rather than pushing plans significantly further out, reflecting a continued appetite to travel despite short-term disruption.
Cruise offers customers 'reassurance'
Cruise, meanwhile, is Travel Counsellors’ “standout” performer. “Cruise is currently one of our top-selling categories, with sales up 28% year-on-year,” the agency added.
“Part of that is being driven by strong demand for Caribbean itineraries, but more broadly it reflects the appeal of cruise in the current climate – offering both flexibility and a sense of reassurance for customers.”
Advantage members have also seen cruise bookings steadily increase since the Middle East conflict started. “The Caribbean has been really popular for lates as well as for winter 2026/27,” added the Advantage spokesperson.
Ashdown's Lester, meanwhile, said she expects the Caribbean to “take off” if the Iran war continues much longer.
