- “Winter sun destinations” searches soar 213%
- “Winter sun holiday” searches leap 180%
- People are searching “holiday destinations” 77% more than usual
- “Holiday packages” searches are 72% higher than last month, and “flights to anywhere” searches are up 90%.
With the temperature plummeting this week, today is claimed to be the most depressing day of the year and people in the UK are searching for sunny escapes significantly more than usual.
Forbes Advisor, the comparison website and financial guidance platform, can reveal that today – Blue Monday – has seen a spike in holiday-related searches.
- “Winter sun destinations” searches have increased 213%
- “Cheap package holidays”searches have increased 110%
- “Holiday destination” searches have increased 77%
- “Cheap holidays 2024” searches have increased 120%
A lot of people seemingly want to be anywhere but the UK today with many able to leave immediately and others not fussy about the destination: searches for “flights to anywhere” are up by 90% and “Cheap flights tomorrow” searches are up by 80%.
Holiday comparison site Booking.com also saw an increase of 90% in searches compared to this time last month.
Benidorm and Zante are among the top destinations people are looking to escape to, with the aim of clearing their January blues with “cheap flights to Benidorm” and “cheap flights to Zante” searches seeing an increase of 300% today.
“Cheap flights to Phuket” searches are up 140% since last month and “cheap flights to Orlando” searches have increased by 70%
It’s not just flying away from Blue Monday that Brits are looking at today, “Eurostar to Paris” searches have increased 200% as well.
Laura Howard, travel insurance expert at Forbes Advisor UK, says:
“So-called Blue Monday – which falls on the third Monday of each January (ie, today) – is no more than a marketing term contrived to encourage people to spend money booking holidays for the coming year.
“That said, according to our research, Google searches for winter sun destinations are up by 213% and ‘cheap holidays 2024’ are up by 120% compared to this time last month.
“As Christmas pales into memory and we hit the halfway point in a month that’s often as lean as it is cold and long, this is hardly surprising.
“Obviously not all travel-related searches mean parting with money – whether that’s an initial deposit or the whole cost. Many people could be shopping around, comparing deals, or even just dreaming.
"When you do come to buy a holiday however, getting a travel insurance policy in place at the same time will protect you financially should you become ill while away, face long delays or even need to cancel your trip entirely due to unforeseen circumstances.
"The cancellation part of the policy comes into effect immediately, even if your holiday is months away. This is the best way of ensuring there will be no more travel-related ‘Blue Mondays’ to come”