The cost-of-living crisis has set NI travellers back reveals new report

The impact of the cost-of-living crisis is being felt in every area of life across Northern Ireland and travel is no different.

New figures from CompareNI.com show a massive 31% decline in demand for travel insurance to countries outside of Europe in 2022, compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

2022 was initially a year when most people were hoping to get back to some form of normality and start travelling as freely and frequently as before the pandemic. However, the cost-of-living crisis seems to have set travellers back, and many are now trying to save money by holidaying closer to home.

The new data from CompareNI.com reflects this, with a 36% increase in travellers from Northern Ireland choosing to stay closer to home and holiday in Europe.

The UK wide data also shows a similar trend although not as dramatic, with an 18% increase in demand for travel insurance to Europe in 2022 compared with 2019.

Interestingly, it is not a lack of eagerness to travel. A recent UK wide survey by CompareNI.com found that when asked about New Year's resolutions, the third most popular answer was to ‘travel more’, with 12% of participants saying they were keen to travel more in the new year.

Ian Wilson, managing director of Northern Ireland’s largest price comparison site, CompareNI.com, said: “Initially we would have expected 2022 to be the year when travel in Northern Ireland began to return to pre-pandemic levels, with the easing of restrictions and the threat of coronavirus significantly decreasing but this recent research suggests financial factors rather than attitudes could be deterring people from travelling.

“As the summer months fast approach and the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact residents of Northern Ireland, it is more important than ever to find competitive travel insurance that fully protects the traveller’s needs.”

Travel tips to protect your holiday

1 – Take out insurance at the same time as the holiday is purchased – this can help protect against issues in the lead up to the trip

2 – If it’s a package holiday, check it’s ABTA protected, the ABTA logo should appear on the booking reference.

3 – Also check the trip is ATOL protected or ATOL Flight Plus protected - meaning customers won’t be left stranded abroad if the tour operator or airline goes bust.

4 – Booking with credit cards can give extra protection - if the trip was cancelled or the operator went bust, the credit card company are normally liable as the retailer, and so should refund the payment.

CompareNI.com is Northern Ireland’s largest price comparison website, and has helped over 650,000 users find savings on household bills and essentials including travel insurance, home insurance NI, and car insurance NI.