Want to know where the UK’s biggest Summer holiday spenders come from? We’ve mapped out what British travellers from the 12 UK regions intended to spend for this year’s summer trips, and which destinations they were searching for.
From extravagant first class flights to budget-friendly staycations, each region has its own holiday habits. Some of the results may surprise you!
Snapshot of the nation: Who did splurge the most on flights this summer?
One thing is clear: travel budgets and flight preferences were not the same across the country. While holidaymakers from some regions intended to splash out on long-haul escapes, others were sticking to shorter (and cheaper) breaks. Here’s how average flight spending preferences stacked up across the UK and what that revealed about regional holiday styles.
- Map view
- Table view
Sky-high differences: flight costs across the UK unveiled.
Residents of Scotland and Northern Ireland were the most budget-friendly flyers, intending to spend an average of £388 and £308 for their airfares, respectively. This lower spending preference was probably due to their stronger travel choice of short trips to popular European destinations over long-haul adventures
Holiday top lists: Who went where?
We dug into the top flight destinations with average spending preference for each of the UK’s 12 regions. Here are three key takeaways.
Everyone’s soft spot for Spain and Portugal.
East loves East (and long-haul).
Savvy spenders of the North and West.
Now, let’s have a closer look at where travellers from each region went and what they were willing to spend to get there.
Champions of spending big on sleep away from home.
What stands out? UK travellers were far more likely to treat themselves when staying in a hotel abroad than at home, where they intended to book hotels with lower star categories.
Unpacking: the UK’s spending habits for their hotel stays.
Travellers from Northern Ireland were clearly not shy about a bit of indulgence when choosing their holiday hotel, topping the charts for both domestic (£134) and overseas (£162) average nightly hotel spending intentions.
At the other end of the scale, travellers from Yorkshire, the East Midlands and West Midlands were more bargain hunters, keeping their hotel choices on the lower cost end, with average nightly spending intention of £106 in the UK and £118 abroad.
And last but not least, travellers from Scotland and the South West were playing it cool when deciding for their holiday hotels with balanced budgets, no wild swings. Just solid, steady spending intentions, whether they’re staying home or jetting off.
Biggest splurgers: who searched the most for premium travel services?
These are the regions where the share of searches for premium travel services was the highest.
Flights
| 1 | Greater London |
| 2 | South East |
| 3 | North West |
Hotels
| 1 | Greater London |
| 2 | East of England |
| 3 | Northern Ireland |
Car rentals
| 1 | West Midlands |
| 2 | North West |
| 3 | East Midlands |
Greater Londoners topped both premium flight and hotel search share – showing a clear appetite for high-end travel. Meanwhile, West Midlanders took the wheel on luxury car rentals.
Thrifty travellers: who searched the least for premium travel services?
These are the regions where the share of searches for premium travel services was the lowest.
Flights
| 1 | Northern Ireland |
| 2 | North East |
| 3 | Wales |
Hotels
| 1 | Wales |
| 2 | North East |
| 3 | South West |
Car rentals
| 1 | South West |
| 2 | Wales |
| 3 | East of England |
Both travellers from Wales and the North East appeared across almost all three “thrifty travellers” lists, consistently demonstrating budget-conscious travel behaviour.
Northern Ireland offered the most intriguing twist: its residents are near the bottom in premium flight search share, but in the top three for posh hotels – perhaps proving that comfort matters more on arrival than in the air.
A note from our legal teamAll insights are based on flight and hotel searches made on KAYAK.co.uk from IP address identified location, in the period between 01/01/2025 and 03/06/2025 for travel periods between 15/06/2025 and 15/09/2025. All flight prices are average prices for economy, return tickets. The hotel prices are weighted average prices per night for a double room. Prices may vary.
Region’s top destination lists and average flight prices are based on flight searches made on KAYAK.co.uk from IP address identified location, in the period between 01/01/2025 and 23/06/2025 for travel periods between 15/06/2025 and 15/09/2025.
To assess interest in luxury travel, we analysed the share of searches for business and first-class flights, four- and five-star hotels, and premium car rentals within the same search and travel periods as above.
