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WTM 2016: More holidaymakers choosing financially protected holidays

More UK holiday makers are taking Atol protected trips, according to new research.

The number of Atol-protected bookings rose for the fourth consecutive year with 25.2 million holidaymakers protected in the 2015-2016 financial year, compared to 23.8 million in 2014-2015.

The World Travel Market 2016 Industry Report was based on a survey of 1,000 UK holidaymakers and 2,000 tourist boards and travel businesses.

It found that seven out of ten holidaymakers look for Atol and Abta logos when booking a trip.

It follows a spate of high-profile collapses including Lowcostholidays in July and the failure of a number of Turkey specialists.

Terrorism was the number one concern when travelling among 47% of holidaymakers, however 40% said they were not concerned at all despite several attacks in the last year.

Meanwhile, China, India, Iceland and Cuba are tipped to be the hot spots for travel in 2017.

Dubbed ‘ChIIC’, the report states these countries are rapidly rising in popularity due to new airline services, publicity and geopolitical changes.

Almost two fifths said they were interested in visiting Iceland, followed by Cuba (24%), China (21%) and India (20%).

More than 55% of travel companies said they expect to do more business with China next year and 49% expect to conduct more with India.

The research also found that more than half of parents will now take their children out of school during term time (56%) following a High Court ruling in favour of dad Jon Platt, who challenged his daughter’s school fine.

The holiday brochure may also be experiencing a renaissance. Of those surveyed, 34% used a brochure in the last year – up from 14% in 2015 and just 6% in 2014.

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