I have an admission to make. I have never been on an all-inclusive holiday. But it seems I’m part of an ever-diminishing group.
The number of people booking the all-in packages has jumped by 11% since 2010, according to ABTA, while online travel agent Directline Holidays has seen a rise of 11% compared to last summer.
And when you’re travelling as a family, as well as to some destinations where choice is going to be pretty limited, I can see why they make sense.
Who wants to spend the entire trip telling their kids they can’t have an ice-cream or join in the activities and so on – or end up indulging them a bit and going way over budget – when you could pay upfront and know that everything’s included?
While I’m very definitely not a fan of spending a fortnight inside a resort, never seeing the destination outside, the chance to have a great children’s club (and therefore a bit of relaxation yourself) and meals and drinks sorted is distinctly tempting.
Plus, if you’ve already budgeted for that, it’s easier to work out if you have got a bit of extra cash for day trips, souvenirs or the occasional restaurant splurge too.
The trick, obviously, is finding somewhere where there’s enough choice and you’re not locked in to a never-changing tired old buffet, the kind of own-brand vodka that could strip paint and additional costs which ended up not being included after all.
So big brands like First Choice, with their holiday villages are a good place to start looking if you’re dipping your toe in the all-inclusive waters – quite literally at their Splash Parks.
If you need more tempting/convincing, their new video filmed in the Costa Del Sol shows what’s on offer.
Get ready to spend all day humming the reworked version of So You Wanna Be A Boxer from Bugsy Malone though. Sorry.
This post features sponsored links
Image: Mrs eNil/Flickr