The package tour was considered antiquated for much of the early 2000s, with budget airlines becoming popular and the online booking platforms paving the way for DIY itineraries. Travellers from the UK to Australia sought independence, scouring the internet for cheap flights and boutique stays. Yet recent years have delivered a stark reminder that travel freedom comes with risks. Geopolitical tensions, climate-related disruptions, strikes, and airline collapses have created a climate where certainty, protection, and clarity are in demand once again. This shift has breathed new life into a business model that many thought was fading.
Industry sources, including ABTA and Mintel, report that package holidays are recovering strongly across Europe. While precise figures vary depending on methodology, reports confirm that spending through travel agents has outpaced direct flight-only bookings, signalling renewed consumer confidence in the model.
Crunching the Numbers: Market Growth Worldwide
Regarding market analysis, the package market seems to be recovering in major European regions. The 2023 Travel Trends report of ABTA highlighted the rising consumer reliance on package holidays; meanwhile, both Statista and the DRV noted that packaged tours accounted for a larger chunk in the outbound travel market from Germany than before the pandemic. The European Travel Commission has also projected steady mid-to-high single-digit annual growth for packaged holidays up to 2028. While figures such as €78 billion by 2028 have been referenced in non-public reports, what can be confirmed is that growth projections are consistent and robust.
Globally, firms such as Euromonitor International and the U.S. Travel Association have documented increased demand for all-inclusive travel. For instance, Euromonitor notes that Chinese outbound travellers are showing stronger interest in packages post-pandemic, while U.S. sources confirm steady demand for Caribbean and Mexican all-inclusives, particularly among families. Exact percentages may differ depending on the report consulted, but the global trend is clear: packaged deals are becoming a larger share of organised travel again.
Why Certainty is Beating Independence
The motivations for this shift are consistent across regions:
- Legal protection: In Europe, the Package Travel Directive provides refund and repatriation guarantees, while the UK’s ATOL scheme protects millions of bookings each year.
- Price clarity: Hotel prices in Spain rose by around 15–17% year-on-year in summer 2023 (INE data), which made fixed-cost packages particularly attractive.
- One point of responsibility: When wildfires swept through Rhodes in 2023, independent travellers struggled to make arrangements, while package holidaymakers were assisted and repatriated by operators such as TUI and Jet2.
- Support during crises: With strikes, delays, and sudden closures, travellers value the simplicity of having one accountable provider.
These drivers resonate with a wide range of demographics, from families to solo travellers, across both mature and emerging markets.
Tour Operating 2.0: Reinventing the Package Model
What distinguishes today’s revival is how operators are reshaping their services. TUI Group, for example, confirmed in its 2023 annual report that it served over 19 million customers worldwide and has moved towards “dynamic packaging,” which allows the combination of third-party flights and flexible accommodation while maintaining consumer protections.
Online-first providers such as On the Beach in the UK and Trip.com Group in China are central players. Their models combine customisation with regulatory protection, making them appealing alternatives to pure DIY bookings. Market sentiment shows that consumers increasingly value the balance of flexibility and safety, even if precise search statistics (such as “anywhere” being the most popular destination term) are not publicly verifiable.
Analysts have described this evolution as a modernised form of tour operating that merges old safeguards with new consumer expectations. Exact phrasing such as “tour operating 2.0” may come from non-public research notes, but the underlying trend is widely recognised.
Millennials, Gen Z and the Return to Structure
One of the most notable shifts is the return of younger travellers to structured holidays. Industry reports, including those from ABTA and Jet2, confirm that younger demographics are booking packages in larger numbers, drawn by payment instalments, cost predictability, and the reassurance of organised support. In Spain and Portugal, curated packages to emerging destinations like the Azores and Tarifa are marketed directly to millennial and Gen Z travellers.
While precise global figures, such as IATA percentages of youth bookings, are not verifiable, the overall pattern is clear: younger generations are no longer rejecting packages wholesale. Instead, they are engaging with rebranded, flexible products that fit their lifestyles.
Regional Snapshots: Greece, Caribbean, Asia
- Greece: The island of Malia has publicly announced efforts to revive budget package tourism aimed at younger British travellers, in an attempt to reinvigorate local tourism economies.
- Caribbean: Sources, including the USTravel Association, confirm high occupancy rates in the year 2023 all over all-inclusive resorts, with a strong weight from packages originating in North America and Europe. The reported figures differ, but the common message is the rising resilience of this segment.
- Asia: Japan has seen a strong post-pandemic recovery of inbound tourism. Travel agencies such as JTB have confirmed that the demand for packages is increasing, especially among Southeast Asian tourists, for whom packages ease logistics and address potential language barriers.
Practical Takeaways for Travellers and Brands
For travellers, closed-package holidays have ceased to be one-size-fits-all deals. Now, they can offer flexibility, digital access and strong consumer protection. If you ever want to book, make sure you check first that ATOL or similar protections are valid; if possible, check which payment options apply. Compare packages in more detail; assess them on the degree of coverage and on value.
For brands, messages about transparency and consumer protection will matter more than ever. If you want to verify the data, the study proves that trust in legal safeguards constitutes the legal motivation for booking. Well-implemented online-first models that give flexibility with compliance are tending to outgun the traditional model. That combination is especially an attraction for fairly young adults. Those destinations and operators will profit the most from embracing this balance.
The Future of Travel in a Chaotic World
Projections for the global package holiday industry vary depending on the source, but most credible reports anticipate continued mid-to-high single-digit growth over the next five years. While specific forecasts, such as £67 billion for Europe by 2028 or $125 billion worldwide by 2025, cannot be verified from public sources, the consensus is that the package holiday is regaining a solid position within the global travel industry.
The revival of packages underscores one simple truth: in a world of unpredictable travel, reassurance is worth paying for. While DIY options will remain, millions of travellers are rediscovering the value of security, protection, and simplicity—values that sit at the heart of the package holiday model.