How Travel Money Providers Can Make The Most Of Winter Travel Trends

With the summer holiday season firmly at the back of our minds, it is time for travel money providers to ensure that they are positioned correctly to serve those who go away on winter breaks.

Our latest travel money survey shows that the winter holiday market is subtly different to the summer one, with different destinations being popular and customers more likely to use prepaid cards.

This exclusive research showcases the travel trends for this winter, as well as holidaymakers’ spending plans- all information that providers can use to ensure their winter offer is as targeted as possible.

Prepaid cards are on the rise

Almost a quarter of families who take winter holidays are using prepaid cards for spending, suggesting that UK consumers are finally beginning to move away from cash.

Consumer Intelligence surveyed 1000 people who had taken a winter holiday in the past year, and found that although three quarters of people were still using travel cash, 23% also used a prepaid card, 27% a debit card and 55% a debit card.

The figures represent a change from our most recent study on how Britain buys travel money, which showed that 14% of people used a prepaid card. Even more people who take holidays in the winter are planning to pay by card this coming year, with 27% saying they were intending to use one.

How British holidaymakers spent on winter holidays last year

How British holidaymakers plan to spend on winter holidays this year

The winter holidaymaker

We asked consumers where they travelled on winter holidays and whether they had gone on a summer holiday as well. Popular destinations for winter holidays include Spain, the US and Canada as well as France and Italy. More unusual top destinations included Switzerland and Iceland.

Where winter holidaymakers went last year — the top ten

Well over half (65%) of those who travelled abroad for a winter holiday had also taken a summer holiday abroad, with a 22% also taking a winter holiday in the UK and 41% also taking a summer holiday in the UK.

Encouragingly for card providers, the overwhelming majority of winter holidaymakers found that credit and debit cards were widely accepted. Only 4% said that they had not found that cards were widely accepted on their winter holiday, while 96% reported no problems at all.

In contrast, a recent Consumer Intelligence study looking at year-round holiday trends found that only 65% of travellers found cards were always accepted, with 34% stating that they “sometimes” were.


“It may be that resorts that are popular for ‘winter sun’ and skiing are better set up for card payments than summer destinations,” says Andy Buller, Banking expert at Consumer Intelligence. “But it is plain that card spending, for winter travellers, is definitely gaining ground. Providers must ensure they are offering the right deals, including prepaid cards, for the winter season, as well as taking note of the new popular destinations.„

Canada comes up on the rails

Those looking to provide prepaid cards for the winter season might want to look at a new currency denomination: the Canadian dollar. While Canada was only the eighth most popular destination for winter travellers last year, it looks to be sharing the joint second spot with the US for winter 2018. This may be due to the relative affordability of the Canadian dollar, currently $1.71 to the pound compared with 1.67 in 2016.

Top ten destinations for winter holidays this year

[FREE INFOGRAPHIC] 

How Britain buys travel money Infographic

Consumer Intelligence’s biannual travel money survey reveals a detailed picture of the UK travel money market. Our last survey involved 1,096 online interviews in October 2017. Here are some highlights.

Post a comment . . .