30 May 2012

Brits heading to sunny shores urged to compare car hire excess insurance reviews

New figures suggest that a growing number of Brits are snapping up cheap holidays.

The UK might have entered a second recession, but savvy Brits are increasingly heading to sunnier shores on cheap holidays.

Data from online tour operator, On the Beach, has reported a surge of bookings for summer holidays overseas. Those heading abroad on holiday and looking to hire a car are being urged to compare car hire excess insurance reviews before departing.

Car excess policies can range significantly and cash strapped holidaymakers looking for a little bit of sunshine could be burnt by high excess fees if they have not done their homework.

The study highlighted that Spain is the most popular holiday destination for Brits, with Tenerife taking the top spot. The travel agent found a year-on-year boost of 60% in bookings for the sun-kissed Spanish island, closely followed by Majorca and the Costa Del Sol in terms of popularity.

Greece has also proved to be one of the more popular cheap holiday destinations for 2012, with the country on the brink of financial collapse.

A number of package holidays for Greece have been significantly reduced, allowing Brits to snap up a good deal. The research found that, on average, prices for Greek holidays have been slashed by 15%. As a result, bookings to the debt-ridden country have increased by a massive 55% for 2012.

Alistair Daly, Marketing Director of the ‘On the Beach' initiative, said:

"With Britain focussing on the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics, the UK will be saturated with tourists. Our booking data shows that Brits have chosen to avoid these crowds and take advantage of the reduction on family holidays to many of the nation's favourite destinations and guarantee themselves their share of the sun. It is evident that, for now, staycations have taken a back seat in 2012.”