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Consumers ‘protecting their holidays’, says On The Beach

2025-12-02 08:13
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Consumers ‘protecting their holidays’, says On The Beach

The holiday firm reported an 11% rise in pre-tax profits to £27.9 million for the year to September 30.

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Consumers ‘protecting their holidays’, says On The Beach

The holiday firm reported an 11% rise in pre-tax profits to £27.9 million for the year to September 30.

Holly WilliamsTuesday 02 December 2025 08:13 GMTOn The Beach consumers are increasingly expecting a ‘seamless, tech-driven booking experience’ (Alamy/PA)On The Beach consumers are increasingly expecting a ‘seamless, tech-driven booking experience’ (Alamy/PA) (Alamy/PA)Breaking News

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On The Beach has said it is confident of notching up another record summer next year as under-pressure consumers continue to “protect their holiday”.

The holiday firm reported an 11% rise in pre-tax profits to £27.9 million for the year to September 30, as it saw 1.7 million customers book with the group, with underlying profits up 20% to £35 million.

The group said the momentum had continued into the new financial year, with bookings for winter 15% higher year-on-year, while they are 8% up for summer 2026.

Shaun Morton, chief executive of On The Beach Group, said: “Demand for On The Beach holidays remains strong and, despite the broader consumer environment, booking trends indicate that consumers will continue to protect their holiday.”

He added: “Bookings for summer 26 are encouraging and give us confidence that we will deliver another record summer.”

But the results come after Manchester-based On The Beach warned in September that profits were set to miss expectations, with most analysts previously pencilling in £38.4 million in underlying profits.

On The Beach announced at the time it would close its loss-making business-to-business division, called Classic Collection, to focus on the consumer holidays arm.

It also flagged pressure on trading from the wider trend for travellers to wait until closer to departure before buying holidays.

The profit alert sent shares plunging on the day.

On The Beach revealed it booked losses of £16 million on the Classic Collection arm, including an £8.4 million write-down and redundancy costs.

It also increased its provisions for bad debts, with expected credit losses rising to £2.5 million from £1.7 million the previous year.

But it said trading momentum had carried into the new financial year, with year-to-date sales by total transaction value up 16%.

The group said a recent survey showed “spending on holidays for the next 12 months is the most protected discretionary category for consumers, ahead of health and wellbeing, home improvement, hobbies, leisure and all other buckets of discretionary spend”.

It added: “Booking intent currently remains strong amongst younger age groups, particularly 25–34s, where package uptake is highest and has seen consistent year-on-year growth.”

“Recent research indicates that 38% of Gen Z are now more likely to book a package holiday compared to five years ago,” according to the firm.

But it said consumers are increasingly expecting a “seamless, tech-driven booking experience”.

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ConsumersHolly WilliamsManchesterGen Z

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