The SALT British Travel Search Report (Summer 2026)
Three forces are shaping the British travel and leisure landscape in summer 2026: the return of festival season, the relentless pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, and a rising tide of travel anxiety driven by geopolitical conflict, new EU border rules, and routine flight chaos.
New analysis of UK search data across more than 150 keyword terms reveals how each of these forces is manifesting in consumer search behaviour — and what British travellers are actually doing, buying, and worrying about.
The research is structured in three parts. Part One examines festival season purchasing intent. Part Two explores cost-conscious travel and the ‘free things to do’ economy. Part Three reveals the travel concerns dominating British minds this summer — from passport panic to the shadow that the various conflicts are casting over unrelated holiday destinations.
Report key findings
- Passport panic is the #1 British travel concern of summer 2026. ‘Passport renewal’ (168,000/mo, traffic potential: 487,000) is the largest single keyword in this entire research series.
- Festival fashion dominates all other purchasing categories combined. ‘Festival outfits’ (28,000/mo) is larger than every camping, hygiene, safety and footwear festival term added together.
- Boots have replaced wellies as the festival footwear of choice. 4:1 search advantage for ‘festival boots’ over ‘festival wellies’ — a significant market shift.
- EES and ETIAS have created a 15,000+ monthly search information vacuum. British travellers are primarily asking when the new EU border systems launch. Repeated delays have amplified anxiety rather than resolving it.
- The Israel conflict is suppressing demand for entirely safe destinations. Cyprus, Greece and Turkey are being assessed for conflict risk they don’t have. This geographic anxiety halo is materially affecting holiday bookings.
- ‘Flight disruption’ has the highest commercial CPC in this report: £250. Compensation claim companies and insurers are fighting hard for this audience. TUI leads airline-specific compensation searches despite its smaller market share.
- Martin Lewis has his own flight compensation keyword. 300 monthly searches for ‘Martin Lewis flight delay compensation’ confirm MoneySavingExpert as the authority British travellers trust above airlines and regulators.
- ‘Free’ has replaced ‘cheap’ as the dominant consumer travel language. Across every UK city tested, ‘free things to do in X’ outperforms ‘cheap things to do in X’ — often by 5–10x.
- London is the single biggest travel content opportunity in this data. ‘Free things to do in London’ (9,700/mo) sits in a 36,000 traffic-potential cluster, all at near-zero keyword difficulty.
- ‘Destination dupes’ is an editorial concept, not a search term. ~150 UK monthly searches. Brands should package this content under destination keywords people actually type.
- Jet fuel shortages are real in consumer consciousness but news-driven in search. Aviation fuel shortage (700/mo) spikes with media coverage but lacks the persistent search patterns of passport or compensation categories.
- Travel insurance is being bought more carefully than ever. Consumers are searching for specific policy features — ‘war cover’, ‘disruption’ — not just the cheapest price.
Data limitations
Search volume data reflects demand patterns at a specific point in time and should be interpreted as directional rather than precise. Keywords with volume reported as ‘0’ may still receive occasional searches below Ahrefs’ reportable threshold.
This analysis does not capture searches on non-Google platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram), which may show materially different patterns for trend-driven topics such as destination dupes. Event-driven categories (fuel shortages, conflict safety) may spike significantly with news coverage and subside quickly.
UK festival season
Search data reveals how the modern British festival-goer actually shops — and the results challenge assumptions about what matters most.
Festival planning
These top-of-funnel searches capture intent before the first purchase is made.
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) |
| Festival essentials | 900 |
| Festival packing list | 800 |
| Festival checklist | 500 |
| Festival camping essentials | 350 |
| Festival must haves | 250 |
| What to take to a festival | 200 |
| Festival kit | 90 |
| Festival shopping list | 30 |
‘Festival packing list’ (800/mo) and ‘festival essentials’ (900/mo) anchor planning intent. CPCs of £15–20 confirm active retail bidding — these searches convert reliably.
Festival fashion
Festival fashion generates more search volume than all other product categories combined.
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) | Avg. CPC |
| Festival outfits | 28,000 | £25–45 |
| Festival outfit | 8,200 | £25–45 |
| Festival clothes | 3,000 | £25 |
| Festival dress | 2,000 | £20 |
| What to wear to a festival | 900 | £20 |
| Festival looks | 700 | £15 |
| Festival fashion | 600 | £15 |
| Festival clothing | 400 | £20 |
| Festival style | 300 | £15 |
‘Festival outfits’ (28,000/mo) is the single largest festival search term in the UK — nearly 10x the next fashion keyword. CPCs of £25–45 confirm strong commercial conversion. Festivals have become a fashion moment above all else.
Festival footwear. Boots replace wellies
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) |
| Festival boots | 1,400 |
| Festival shoes | 600 |
| Festival wellies | 350 |
| Festival footwear | 200 |
| Festival sandals | 150 |
| Festival trainers | 100 |
| Wellies for festivals | 80 |
| Waterproof festival boots | 50 |
| Best boots for festivals | 20 |
‘Festival boots’ (1,400/mo) outperforms ‘festival wellies’ (350/mo) by 4:1. The classic rubber welly has been supplanted by versatile dual-purpose boots. KD across the entire footwear category is 0.
Festival camping
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) |
| Festival tent | 1,100 |
| Festival gazebo | 150 |
| Festival sleeping bag | 50 |
| Festival camping gear | 20 |
| Festival camping kit | 20 |
| Festival tarp | 10 |
‘Festival tent’ (1,100/mo, KD: 0, CPC: £20) completely dominates. Sleeping bags and camping gear are likely purchased via generic product searches, limiting visibility for camping brands not targeting tent-first content.
Festival beauty & accessories
The accessories category is driven by aesthetic expression and British weather pragmatism in equal measure.
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) | Avg. CPC |
| Festival makeup | 1,900 | £40 |
| Festival glitter | 900 | £20 |
| Festival hat | 700 | £15 |
| Festival sunglasses | 600 | £15 |
| Festival poncho | 600 | £25 |
| Festival flag | 350 | £30 |
| Festival chair | 250 | £25 |
| Festival rain jacket | 150 | £15 |
| Festival waterproof jacket | 100 | £25 |
‘Festival makeup’ (1,900/mo, CPC: £40) has the highest CPC of any festival keyword outside fashion. ‘Festival glitter’ (900/mo) reflects the aesthetic language of modern UK festivals. Rain protection generates consistent year-round demand regardless of the weather forecast.
Festival hygiene
Festival-specific hygiene searches barely register — but the purchases are happening through generic product terms.
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) |
| Dry shampoo (generic term) | 17,000 |
| Camping shower | 3,500 |
| Portable shower camping | 600 |
| Festival wet wipes | 100 |
| Festival shower | 80 |
| Festival toiletries | 20 |
Nobody searches ‘festival dry shampoo’. ‘Dry shampoo’ generates 17,000 searches/month without the modifier. For hygiene brands, the opportunity is in product-level pages, not festival-occasion hubs.
Festival personal safety
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) |
| Festival bag | 1,200 |
| Festival bum bag | 300 |
| Festival security | 200 |
| Festival safe | 30 |
| Festival money belt | 20 |
‘Festival bag’ (1,200/mo) leads the safety category. ‘Festival security’ (200/mo) carries a CPC of £90 — the highest in this section — driven almost entirely by B2B event-organiser searches.
The most culturally significant festival finding sits in a category rarely covered in mainstream retail.
| Keyword | Monthly Volume (UK) |
| MDMA test kit | 150 |
| Pill testing kit | 90 |
| Ecstasy test kit | 40 |
| Reagent test kit | 40 |
~320 monthly UK searches for drug testing kit terms reflect growing normalisation of harm reduction at festivals. These are product-name searches — ‘festival drug test’ returns near-zero; ‘MDMA test kit’ returns 150/mo.
Price-sensitive travel, “free” beats “cheap”
With the cost of living rising and holiday costs climbing, Brits are not simply trading down — they are searching differently. Analysis across ‘cheap’, ‘free’, and ‘budget’ travel queries reveals a clear shift: ‘free’ has replaced ‘cheap’ as the dominant consumer framing, and ‘destination dupes’ — much discussed in editorial circles — are barely searched at all.
High-volume budget travel terms are dominated by OTAs and carry high keyword difficulty — but a layer beneath them tells a different story.
| Keyword | Volume | KD | Avg. CPC |
| Cheap last minute holidays | 6,500 | 35 | £60 |
| Cheap holidays abroad | 6,400 | 67 | £60 |
| Budget travel tips | 3,500 | 22 | £80 |
| Cheapest holiday destinations | 2,100 | 54 | £60 |
| Free activities near me | 1,200 | 2 | £25 |
| Cheap weekend break UK | 200 | 9 | — |
| Budget holiday UK | 150 | 3 | £40 |
| Cheap staycation UK | 150 | 6 | £35 |
| Staycation ideas UK | 250 | 0 | £40 |
‘Cheap holidays abroad’ (6,400/mo, KD: 67) and ‘cheap last minute holidays’ (6,500/mo) are effectively owned by major OTAs. Content-led brands must target specific destination or activity queries, where KD drops to near-zero.
UK staycations and the free activity economy
‘Free things to do in [city]’ queries generate enormous demand across the UK — and almost all carry KD scores of 0–2.
| Keyword | Volume | KD | Traffic Potential |
| Free things to do in London | 9,700 | 1 | 36,000 |
| Free things to do near me | 3,300 | 2 | 12,000 |
| Free things to do in London with kids | 2,200 | 1 | 1,300 |
| Free things to do in London this weekend | 800 | 6 | 36,000 |
| Best free things to do in London | 800 | 3 | 34,000 |
| Free things to do in Manchester | 1,300 | 0 | 1,700 |
| Free things to do in Edinburgh | 1,000 | 0 | 4,000 |
| Free things to do in Glasgow | 700 | 0 | 9,200 |
| Free things to do in York | 700 | 0 | 1,200 |
| Free things to do in Bristol | 700 | 1 | 900 |
| Free things to do in Cornwall | 500 | 0 | 1,300 |
| Free things to do in Bath | 450 | 0 | 400 |
| Free things to do in Birmingham | 450 | 0 | 700 |
| Free things to do in Liverpool | 450 | 0 | 300 |
| Free things to do in Leeds | 350 | 0 | 450 |
| Free things to do in Cambridge | 300 | 0 | 800 |
| Free things to do in Newcastle | 300 | 0 | 250 |
| Free things to do in Belfast | 300 | 1 | 300 |
‘Free things to do in London’ (9,700/mo) has a traffic potential of 36,000. Glasgow’s traffic potential (9,200) is strikingly high relative to its 700/mo direct volume — indicating a large cluster of related queries. ‘Free’ outperforms ‘cheap’ in every UK city tested, often by 5–10x.
‘Cheap things to do with kids near me’ (600/mo, traffic potential: 30,000) is a standout editorial opportunity for family travel and activity brands. ‘Near me’ intent across both free and cheap queries signals strong hyperlocal, proximity-driven discovery searches.
Europe, moderate volume and strong intent
| Keyword | Volume (UK) | KD |
| Free things to do in Paris | 500 | 2 |
| Free things to do in Amsterdam | 450 | 1 |
| Free things to do in Dublin | 350 | 0 |
| Free things to do in Rome | 300 | 0 |
| Free things to do in Barcelona | 250 | 0 |
| Free things to do in Prague | 150 | 1 |
| Free things to do in Lisbon | 100 | 2 |
| Free and cheap things to do in Reykjavik | 100 | — |
| Cheap things to do in Reykjavik | 100 | — |
| Cheap things to do in Amsterdam | 100 | 1 |
| Cheap things to do in Paris | 90 | 5 |
| Cheap things to do in Barcelona | 60 | 0 |
| Cheap things to do in Rome | 60 | 0 |
Paris (500/mo) and Amsterdam (450/mo) lead European free-activity searches. Reykjavik is an unexpected entrant — 100/mo each for both ‘free’ and ‘cheap’ variants — driven by Iceland’s growing UK popularity combined with its expensive reputation.
Long-haul, Dubai and New York
| Keyword | Volume (UK) | KD |
| Free things to do in New York | 350 | 12 |
| Free things to do in Dubai | 200 | 0 |
| Cheap things to do in Orlando | 150 | 3 |
| Cheap things to do in Dubai | 70 | 0 |
| Cheap things to do in New York | 50 | 1 |
| Cheap things to do in Tokyo | 40 | — |
| Free things to do in Tokyo | 40 | — |
Long-haul ‘free activities’ searches are low volume from the UK — when flights cost hundreds of pounds, activity costs recede as a decision factor. Dubai (200/mo) punches above its weight, likely reflecting visitors arriving for business or family reasons.
Destination dupes, an editorial concept that hasn’t caught on
‘Destination dupes’ is one of travel media’s most-used editorial frames of 2024–25. The search data tells a very different story.
| Keyword | Volume (UK) | KD |
| Destination dupes | 150 | — |
| Destination dupe | 10 | — |
| Cheaper alternative to Santorini | 0 | — |
| Montenegro alternative | 0 | — |
| Alternative to Mykonos | 0 | — |
| Budget alternative to Bali | 0 | — |
| Cheaper than Maldives | 0 | — |
The phrase ‘destination dupes’ generates ~150 UK searches per month.
It is a social-media concept, not a search behaviour — it works as a TikTok hook or editorial headline, but cannot be chased as an SEO keyword. Brands should package this content under destination terms people actually use.
The biggest travel concerns, Summer 2026
Jet fuel shortages, new EU border systems, and the shadow of world conflict are reshaping how British travellers plan — and worry — about travel. Search data across six concern categories reveals what is genuinely keeping people up at night, and what is primarily a media story.
Passport panic and uncertainty
Nothing comes close to passport-related anxiety in terms of raw search volume. This is the single largest concern category in this entire three-part report.
| Keyword | Volume | KD | Traffic Potential |
| Passport renewal | 168,000 | 12 | 487,000 |
| Passport renewal UK | 31,000 | 15 | 481,000 |
| UK passport renewal | 22,000 | 16 | 456,000 |
| Passport renewal online | 9,500 | 43 | 481,000 |
| Child passport renewal | 9,100 | 10 | 58,000 |
| UK passport renewal child | 9,100 | 9 | 58,000 |
| British passport renewal | 6,100 | 61 | 481,000 |
| Passport renewal fast track | 3,500 | 34 | 44,000 |
| Irish passport renewal | 4,800 | 12 | 37,000 |
‘Passport renewal’ alone generates 168,000 monthly UK searches with a traffic potential of 487,000 — the largest single keyword in this entire research series.
‘Passport renewal fast track’ (3,500/mo, CPC: £80) signals urgency — people leaving it dangerously late.
EU border systems
The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) and European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) — both requiring post-Brexit British travellers to register biometric data and/or pay a fee — are generating some of the highest informational search demand in the dataset.
| Keyword | Volume | KD | Avg. CPC |
| EU entry exit system | 5,600 | 11 | £2 |
| EES start date | 5,200 | 35 | £1 |
| ETIAS application | 5,000 | 56 | £30 |
| EES Europe | 2,700 | 52 | £3 |
| ETIAS start date | 2,500 | 74 | £4 |
| ETIAS UK | 1,400 | 57 | £35 |
| When does ETIAS start | 1,100 | 73 | £4 |
| What is EES | 600 | 56 | £1 |
| New EU border rules | 300 | — | £7 |
| How to apply for ETIAS | 150 | 53 | £25 |
| FCO travel advice | 2,600 | 41 | £8 |
‘EU entry exit system’ (5,600/mo) and ‘EES start date’ (5,200/mo) together show British travellers are primarily asking when these systems launch — repeated delays have created a chronic informational gap. ‘ETIAS UK’ carries a CPC of £35, reflecting aggressive bidding from fraudulent third-party application sites.
Flight disruption and compensation
British travellers know they’re entitled to compensation when flights go wrong. The data shows they are actively pursuing it, by airline.
| Keyword | Volume | KD | CPC | Traffic Potential |
| Flight delay compensation | 8,700 | 54 | £100 | 23,000 |
| Flight delay compensation UK | 2,800 | 57 | £90 | 22,000 |
| Flight cancellation compensation | 1,700 | 45 | £100 | — |
| Flight disruption | 700 | 19 | £250 | — |
| Flight cancellation compensation UK | 600 | 45 | £90 | — |
| Flight cancelled rights | 50 | 45 | £100 | — |
And if we breakdown compensation specific searches by airline…
| Keyword | Volume | KD | CPC |
| TUI flight delay compensation | 2,200 | 2 | £120 |
| EasyJet flight delay compensation | 1,500 | 8 | £80 |
| EasyJet cancellation | 900 | 27 | £90 |
| Ryanair flight delay compensation | 900 | 4 | £90 |
| Jet2 flight delay compensation | 600 | 1 | £120 |
| British Airways flight delay compensation | 500 | 6 | £110 |
| Martin Lewis flight delay compensation | 300 | — | — |
| Ryanair cancellation | 300 | 5 | £70 |
| British Airways cancellation | 150 | 2 | £90 |
‘Flight disruption’ has a CPC of £250 — the joint highest of any keyword in this entire three-part research series. TUI leads airline-specific compensation searches (2,200/mo) despite being a smaller operator, suggesting a disproportionately high complaints rate. The appearance of ‘Martin Lewis flight delay compensation’ (300/mo) confirms MoneySavingExpert as the authority British travellers trust for consumer rights.
Conflict’s geographic anxiety halo
This is the most culturally revealing finding in the entire report. The Middle East conflict is directly reshaping how British travellers think about holiday destinations that are not in the conflict zone.
| Keyword | Volume (UK) | KD |
| Is it safe to travel to Turkey right now | 6,300 | 51 |
| Is it safe to travel to Cyprus with the trouble in Israel | 3,200 | 9 |
| Is it safe to travel to Turkey | 3,200 | 35 |
| Is it safe to travel to Egypt right now | 2,500 | 53 |
| Is it safe to travel to Greece right now with war | 2,500 | — |
| Is it safe to travel to Antalya Turkey right now | 2,400 | 40 |
| Is it safe to travel to Dubai | 2,200 | 51 |
| Is it safe to travel to Dubai during Israel war | 2,000 | 36 |
| Is it safe to travel to Morocco right now | 1,900 | 42 |
| Is it safe to travel to Tunisia right now | 1,800 | 32 |
| Is it safe to travel to Sharm el Sheikh right now | 1,200 | 30 |
| Is it safe to travel to Cyprus right now from UK | 1,300 | 22 |
| Is it safe to travel to Greece right now | 1,100 | 18 |
| Is it safe to travel to Tunisia | 1,100 | 16 |
| Is it safe to travel to Turkey with the war | 800 | 49 |
| Is it safe to travel to Israel | 450 | 43 |
| Is it safe to travel to USA | 350 | 67 |
| Is it safe to travel to Spain | 400 | 45 |
| Travel insurance war cover | 100 | — |
Turkey is the most-searched destination safety concern in the UK (6,300/mo). ‘Is it safe to travel to Cyprus with the trouble in Israel’ (3,200/mo) and ‘is it safe to travel to Greece right now with war’ (2,500/mo) show the conflict creating a geographic anxiety halo across the entire Eastern Mediterranean — suppressing demand for entirely safe destinations through association. ‘Is it safe to travel to USA’ (350/mo, KD: 67) is a newer entrant driven by geopolitical anxiety in the Trump era.
Jet fuel shortage concerns and the consumer impact
| Keyword | Volume (UK) |
| Aviation fuel shortage | 700 |
| Fuel shortage flights cancelled | 400 |
| Jet fuel shortage flights | 0 |
Aviation fuel shortage generates 700 monthly searches — meaningful but not dominant. The near-zero volume for ‘jet fuel shortage flights’ as a combined phrase suggests consumers are searching the supply-chain issue rather than its consequence. This is a news-driven search category: it spikes with coverage, not as evergreen travel-planning intent.
Travel insurance buying considerations
High competition and extraordinary CPCs in this category tell their own story about heightened consumer anxiety.
| Keyword | Volume | KD | Avg. CPC |
| Best travel insurance UK | 7,900 | 72 | £250 |
| Travel insurance comparison | 5,600 | 73 | £300 |
| Travel insurance medical | 800 | 60 | £400 |
| Travel insurance cost | 800 | 55 | £70 |
| European visa UK | 1,000 | 53 | £50 |
| 90 day rule Europe | 200 | 47 | £120 |
| Travel insurance cancellation | 350 | 2 | £60 |
| Travel insurance war cover | 100 | — | — |
‘Travel insurance medical’ carries a CPC of £400 — joint highest in this research series. The appearance of ‘travel insurance war cover’ (100/mo) alongside ’90 day rule Europe’ (200/mo) signals consumers reading the fine print: they are not just buying insurance, they are buying the right insurance for a world that feels riskier than before.