All sunny winter destinations back again at TUI Belgium

TUI, the largest tour operator in Belgium, registered significantly more bookings for flying holidays during the Christmas holidays compared to last year. Almost one booking in three was made in the past three weeks. All sunny destinations are back: Spain remains by far the favourite destination, but the non-European countries also attract many people and even record the strongest growth. City trips are back and are again attracting many more travellers this year-end. And the snow is also sought en masse, with the French Alps welcoming two-thirds of skiers. Christmas and New Year fall on the weekend this time, which means that many more Belgians than usual leave during the week.

Sunny destinations traditionally attract many travellers for this winter holiday. No fewer than 73% of TUI travellers fly to a warm destination. Spain remains by far the most popular destination with 60% of holidaymakers. More than half of them travel to the Canary Islands, which guarantee high temperatures. This region has, therefore, been fully booked for several weeks, except for a few hotels.

This year, Belgian families have an extra eye for sunny destinations with an excellent price-quality ratio: Egypt, Turkey, Morocco and Tunisia are very popular and are experiencing strong growth. Mexico and the Dominican Republic remain the frontrunners in exotic holidays, but the African destinations Senegal and Gambia are also on the rise. All of these countries were inaccessible during the pandemic and are showing spectacular growth compared to last year.

This year, the Belgian prefers to leave on a weekday because the festivities around Christmas and New Year fall on Saturday and Sunday. Also for this Christmas holiday, there is a trend to book last minute. Due to the scarcity at a number of destinations, last-minute bookers often had to be satisfied with a limited choice from the remaining range.

Winter holidays are of course also synonymous with winter sports: 13% of TUI travellers go skiing. The ski fanatics have known for some time that the supply during these two weeks is dwindling quickly and they traditionally decide well in advance. Here the last-minute trend is not so pronounced. Two-thirds of skiers go to the French Alps, the destination of choice for winter sports enthusiasts for years. This year, the second week of the Christmas holidays was by far the most popular for winter sports enthusiasts: the French school holidays have already passed so more accommodations remained available and at a lower price, a godsend for many Belgians.

City breaks have certainly not fared well since the outbreak of the pandemic as travellers sought to avoid places that were overcrowded. The situation has now completely changed and TUI has noted a strong increase in bookings compared to last year. The city that made the most impressive comeback in London: the Belgian is no longer influenced by Brexit and London has always had a special festive atmosphere during the end-of-the-year period. Even today, Belgians decide at the last minute to book a city trip and thus spend their last vacation days of the year in an atmospheric way.

Top 5 countries for flying holidays: Spain, Egypt, Cape Verde, Mexico, Tunisia
Top 5 regions for flying holidays: Tenerife, Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Gran Canaria, Cancun
Top 5 ski holidays: France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy
Top 5 city trips: Paris, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona