UK travel agents are pushing for a significant shift in the school holiday schedule to help families save money. Advantage Travel Partnership, representing over 4,000 travel agents, is advocating for a major revamp to prevent families with children in state schools from being overcharged.
Presently, there is a substantial price hike for vacations taken in late July and August, coinciding with the summer holidays for the majority of UK schoolchildren. Families who choose to travel outside of school holidays could face an extra cost of £388 per person. A recent study revealed that a family of four could spend an average of £716 more if they travel during school breaks compared to term time, with costs escalating further during the six-week summer break.
The soaring expenses have led some families to consider paying fines for taking their children out of school during term time. Advantage Travel Partnership’s CEO, Julia Lo Bue-Said, is urging the Department of Education to revise the school holiday calendar, allowing families to travel at alternative times to ease demand and potentially lower prices.
Lo Bue-Said highlights the dilemma faced by many British families, forced to choose between expensive, overcrowded destinations during the inflexible summer break or risking fines by pulling children out of school. She proposes shortening summer holidays and extending the May half-term or staggering half-terms nationwide, similar to practices in countries like Sweden.
The current system disproportionately affects families with children in state schools, as private schools typically have longer holidays, granting them access to more affordable breaks earlier in the summer. Lo Bue-Said emphasizes the need for a fair discussion on the issue to enable more families to travel. She suggests collaborating with authorities to explore solutions and create affordable travel options for families.
With the growing popularity of shoulder seasons like May and September for travel and the declining appeal of traditional Mediterranean vacations due to summer heatwaves, Lo Bue-Said stresses the timeliness of addressing this debate on a national level.