The complete package: Brits snapping up Spanish package holidays in record number

From beaches to bars, hotels to restaurants, roads to airports, Spain has everything you need for a fun and hassle-free holiday.

The great package holiday is a summer staple for millions of Brits: a well-priced, hassle-free week or two in the sun for the family, with all travel, dining and leisure logistics taken care of well in advance.

Spain has been the preferred destination of choice for holidaying Brits for the past few decades. However, there was a time either side of the millennium when the country perhaps looked in danger of losing its package holiday crown…

The emergence of cheaper rivals in the form of Turkey, Tunisia and Bulgaria heaped pressure on Spanish resorts that had begun to diversify to attract a wealthier clientele. At the same time, places like Greece, Portugal and Italy benefited from being “not Spain” and, ergo, somewhere new and exciting for credit-fuelled Brits to jet off to.

This period of uncertainty did not last, however. The global credit crunch hit all of Europe and the Mediterranean countries hard, and while Spain’s recovery was actually slower than many others, its tourism industry suffered far less.

As prices were slashed all over Europe in the face of job losses and employment uncertainty, cash-strapped Brits were still as sun-starved as ever, and their loyalty to the Costas shone through. During the lean years of 2008 – 2013, tourism to Spain remained robust, and began to pick up dramatically in 2014.

And now, following a record-breaking year in 2016, Spain is poised to attract more tourists than ever before in 2017. Partly this is due to the sad demise of resorts in Egypt and Tunisia in the face of terrorism and security threats – but mostly Spain’s performance was rooted in the old staples of excellent weather, wonderful resorts, affordability and accessibility.

British holidaymakers are big fans of this combination, which is why bookings for package holidays in Spain as of June 24 were already 270,000 higher in number than at the same point last year; according to data by Gfk Leisure Travel Monitor.

This statistic is more than double the growth recorded in Greece, the second-most popular destination for British package holidaymakers, and places Spain far ahead of other favourites suceh as the Caribbean, Croatia, Cyprus and Portugal.

The data has also revealed that bookings for holidays in the USA, Egypt and Turkey are actually lower this year than last. This can undoubtedly be put down to the Trump Effect in America, and the worries over terrorism in Turkey and Egypt.