Travel spend up by 50% in December, Barclaycard reports

Travel agents and airlines benefitted from rising demand for overseas holidays in December, latest Barclaycard data shows.

They saw year-on-year growth of 87.3% and 62.4%respectively but the levels were inflated due to the Omicron variant arising at the same time the previous year. 

“As holidaymakers booked getaways for 2023, the international travel sector saw significant improvement compared to December 2021,” the latest spend report by the card company said.

The Barclaycard study added: “Travel spend grew significantly this month (49.9%) compared to this time last year [December 2021], however growth is inflated due to the Omicron variant arising in December 2021.” 

Transaction growth for travel agents was reported to be up by almost 68% and 38% for airlines last month.

A Barclays spokesperson said: “I note from some comments released today that such momentum appears to have continued into 2023 with last Saturday as ‘Sunshine Saturday’ having seen record travel sector booking activity and volumes, with people seeming to increasingly ring-fencing and making sacrosanct their family holiday above all other forms of discretionary expenditure.”

Overall, the spokesperson said: “2022 did see a Christmas seasonal spend uptick, although it probably cannot be described as rip-roaring, with wider cost of living and utility bill costs unquestionably taking some edge off of the seasonal urge/impulse to spend.”