Three million plan to roam over Christmas!

by 0044 GURU in Advice

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) announced that more than 3 million travellers will be heading abroad this festive season for a Christmas getaway.

The credit crunch has had quite an impact on the holiday market with a decrease in bookings and search engine traffic looking up cheap flights for holidays abroad. British tourists are remaining stoic though and continuing with their trips to foreign climes regardless of the economic downturn.

The need to make savings via low costs airlines, late deals and even using a Global SIM card to cut down on communication costs is ever more pressing. A Global SIM can avoid roaming charges in over 140 countries with many allowing free incoming calls.

A recent poll from ICM revealed that only one quarter of people who would usually take a ski holiday are going ahead and hitting the slopes this winter, many of them using a Global SIM or French SIM to avoid roaming charges. Despite this, positive early snow falls and perfect peak snow conditions may encourage winter sports enthusiasts to grab a late deal holiday.

The majority of the 3 million travellers are looking to make the most of some winter sun away from the cold British shores. Key destinations outside of Europe including flights to Dubai, the Middle East, Egypt and the Caribbean are proving popular. A Global SIM card used in many of these destinations means lower cost outbound and inbound calls for users and also cheaper mobile data charges.

In the Eurozone, city breaks to Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin, Madrid and Athens are the top destinations to visit over Christmas, with excursions to New York also remaining a priority for shopaholics. A traveler using a Global SIM in any of these destinations can receive calls for free and access text rates as low as 11p per text on a Global SIM.

 “We’ve been helping consumers avoid roaming charges for several years now when they travel abroad. The Global SIM is ideal for tourists travelling over Christmas, particularly given some of the adverse winter weather conditions we’ve been facing.”