As interest rates rise, swapping Spain for Cornwall this summer could cover 9 months of grocery shopping, or 2 years of energy bills

LONDON, June 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With rising interest rates likely to put more pressure on household spending, British holidaymakers are turning their back on Spain this summer, and could save £5,000 by visiting Cornwall instead, according to research from Parkdean Resorts.

Google searches for popular Spanish resorts have plummeted, with Malaga down 18% in the last three months, and Majorca down 18% year-on-year, while searches for Cornwall are up 83% over three months, and 22% year-on-year.

Xavier Vallee, Chief Customer Officer, Parkdean Resorts, said: "With the Bank of England increasing interest rates again, the cost of mortgages for millions of homeowners on variable rates will be driven up further – meaning hardworking British families will be looking to cut back on spending in other areas. With the ONS identifying rising air fares as a key contributor to the historically high inflation levels, families who sacrifice overseas holidays can recoup thousands of pounds which could go towards vitally important things like energy bills or the weekly shop."

To help families looking to trade Malaga for Mullion or Benidorm for Perranporth, Parkdean compared the price of family breaks to the Costa Del Sol and the Costa Blanca with stays at its holiday parks in Cornish beauty spots, finding that holidaymakers could spend up to 6 times more for a week-long trip to Spain than for a similar holiday in Cornwall. A week at a 4* resort in Malaga in August would cost an enormous £5,240.31 more than a luxury lodge at Parkdean's St Minver holiday park, near Rock. Families feeling the pinch could pay for 40 weeks' food shopping with the money they save[1], or pay their energy bills for 25 months[2] if they made this trade.  

For more information visit parkdeanresorts.co.uk  

About Parkdean Resorts:

Parkdean Resorts is the leading operator of holiday parks in the UK, welcoming in excess of 3.5 million holidaymakers each year. We own and operate 66 award-winning holiday parks, and has an unrepeatable freehold property footprint with 3,500 acres of land including forests, peatbogs, rivers, beaches and headlands in some of the UK's finest beauty spots. We are committed to caring for our parks, people, and planet to create a positive environmental impact on nature and resources, and to acting responsibly for the long-term sustainability of our business.

Our 33,000 pitches include a wide range of accommodation options, from static caravans to luxury lodges and glamping, as well as touring and camping pitches. We have 20,000 holiday home owners, and sell over 600,000 holidays a year, mainly to families.

Our team's commitment to creating amazing experiences for our holidaymakers has earned us at least one British Travel Award every year since 2010, most recently winning three gold awards for Best UK Family Holiday Company, Best UK Holiday Parks and Lodges Company, and Best UK Breaks Holidays at the 2022 Awards. We continue to record excellent visitor reviews with 2023 year-to-date feedback scores of 4.2/5 on Google, 4.0/5 on Facebook and 4.3/5 on TripAdvisor, while 82% of people who visited Parkdean would recommend us.

[1] Based on analysis of ONS figures which found that the average UK family of 4 spends on average £129 on groceries and £38 on restaurant and takeaways per week

[2] British Gas – 3 bedroom house average energy bill is £208.52 per month