Europe
A new analysis by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and European Trade Union Institute reveals that families face the highest increase in the cost of holidays on record. The price of package holidays at home or abroad has increased by 12.4% across the EU and that follows an 11.5% increase last year. That is the highest increase in the cost of package holidays since records began. The research found that people in Estonia, France, Bulgaria, Sweden, and Czechia have been hit by the highest increases in the cost of a package holiday, with rises between 18% and 31%. According to the Eurostat statistics agency, around 19.5% of working people can’t afford a week away from home, equivalent to 38 million people. ETUC general secretary Esther Lynch said: “EU and national leaders need to finally tackle the real cause of this crisis by imposing effective windfall taxes on the excess profits driving inflation and strengthening collective bargaining to provide for pay increases as the best way to restore working people’s purchasing power.”
