According to the latest results from ABTA’s Travel Confidence Index, the nation is feeling more confident about travelling overseas now than it was at the same time last year. The Index reveals a score of +47 for the UK population overall; up 6 points compared with last year.

How people booked and travelled significantly affects how confident they feel, with those who booked with a travel professional remaining very confident at +72 and those who took a package holiday in the past year returning an even higher score of +74 (up from +70 last year).

While families (+62) and 25-34-year-olds (+60) remain the most confident, all age groups 64 and under returned more positive scores this year, with the biggest year-on-year increase in confidence among those aged 45-54 (up from +34 to +50). The only age group to have lost confidence to travel is those aged 65+, with a score of +26, down from +33 last year.

First launched in October 2023, the Travel Confidence Index is an annual measure of the nation’s confidence levels, which tracks any changes among different age groups or certain types of travellers and identifies the most effective actions that the industry can take each year to collectively build consumer confidence.

When it comes to the fundamental areas that travel companies should focus on to build consumer confidence to travel, helping customers get the correct documents for travel (eg valid passport or visa) continues to be the most important area, with this rated ‘essential’ by 71% of respondents.

Areas seeing the biggest year-on-year increase were being able to get home if their travel company goes bust (rated essential by 58%), good health and safety standards at their accommodation (rated essential by 48%), and having a welcoming and safe environment on holiday (rated essential by 46%) – highlighting the importance of reassuring customers on these points during the booking process or via marketing activity.

Booking with an ABTA member provided the same level of reassurance as last year (being rated essential by 41% of respondents), so ABTA members should make sure they’re taking advantage of this confidence boost by displaying their membership credentials.

Graeme Buck, Director of Communications at ABTA – The Travel Association, said:

“With the Travel Confidence Index now in its second year, this is our first opportunity to compare  data and start identifying any trends or changes in sentiment.

“It’s really encouraging to see that the nation’s overall confidence to travel is up – and up significantly among certain groups. It’s also brilliant to see that booking with a travel professional continues to foster such high levels of confidence too, which is testament to the exceptional work our members do to make sure their customers are prepared, informed and ultimately have an amazing holiday.

“However, it is slightly concerning to see confidence dropping among the over 65s, who have traditionally had a very strong interest in travel and are a large customer base for our members. Our research suggests they’ve become increasingly risk averse and are significantly reassured by travel insurance, protections against company insolvency and booking with an ABTA member – so businesses targeting this age group should make sure they raise awareness of these points in their interactions with customers.”