Media Alert: International Travellers Flock to the United Kingdom for the Coronation of King Charles III

• On 11 October 2022, the date of the King’s Coronation was announced. Within 24 hours of the announcement, international flight bookings to the U.K. increased by 149% for trips taking place during Coronation weekend.
• International travellers from Ireland (580%+), Italy (355%+), and Spain (349%+) seemed most eager to attend, with searches for UK-bound flights for that weekend seeing triple-digit increases within the 24 hours of the announcement.
• Travellers from the United States booked the most flights to the UK for Coronation weekend followed by India (#2), Australia (#3), Canada (#4), and Italy (#5).

LANGLEY UK, 3 May 2023 – On 11 October 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that the Coronation of His Majesty the King would take place on Saturday, 6 May 2023. Nearly 70 years after the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953, this landmark event is expected to draw thousands of spectators from around the world to celebrate the new monarch. Travelport, a global technology company that powers travel bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide, today released the below trend data highlighting the impact of the King’s Coronation on international travel into the U.K.

Searches for international flights to the U.K. within 24 hours of the announcement

• Globally, searches for international flights to the U.K. increased by 81% within 24 hours of the date of the King’s Coronation being confirmed.
• The top countries of origin searching for flights to the U.K. during the Coronation weekend within 24 hours of the date of the King’s Coronation being confirmed.[1]

1. 1. Ireland (up 580% in the day after announcement)
   2. United Kingdom – domestic travel (up 442% in the day after announcement)
   3. Italy (up 355% in the day after announcement)
   4. Spain (up 349% in the day after announcement)
   5. Netherlands (up 313% in the day after announcement)
   6. United States (up 293% in the day after announcement)
   7. Germany (up 257% in the day after announcement)
   8. Switzerland (up 231% in the day after announcement)
   9. Singapore (up 175% in the day after announcement)
   10. Canada (up 172% in the day after announcement)

Bookings for international flights to the U.K. for the Coronation

• Bookings for U.K. bound flights for Coronation weekend increased by 149% within 24 hours of the announcement.
• While the largest volume of searches for trips to the U.K. during the Coronation weekend largely originated from Europe, the United States was the #1 country to book trips to the U.K for the first weekend of May.
• Based on flight bookings, these are the top 10 countries of origin travelling to the U.K. during the Coronation weekend:

1. 1. United States
   2. India
   3. Australia
   4. Canada
   5. Italy
   6. Nigeria
   7. South Korea
   8. Germany
   9. Thailand
   10. Spain

• Based on travel to the U.K. over the same weekend in 2022, Italy had been the #12 country of origin (vs. this year #5). South Korea (#7) was ranked 33^rd last year and Thailand (#9) was previously ranked 23^rd.

For more trend data or travel insights, please contact Travelport’s PR team at press@travelport.com.

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Notes for Editors:

• All search and booking data is derived from Travelport’s travel retailing platform.
• Booking data is derived from Marketing Information Data Tapes (MIDT) data, which reflects collective GDS industry bookings.
• Search data is derived from Travelport’s shopping request platform. It reflects the first origin and first destination of any search string.
• Travelport’s air search and booking data has been compiled to show the impact of The Royal Family’s announcement (11^th October 2022) that confirmed the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Camilla would take place on Saturday, 6^th May 2023.

About Travelport:

Travelport is a global technology company that powers bookings for hundreds of thousands of travel suppliers worldwide. Buyers and sellers of travel are connected by the company’s next generation marketplace, Travelport+, which simplifies how brands connect, upgrades how travel is sold, and enables modern digital retailing. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom and operating in more than 165 countries around the world, Travelport is focused on driving innovation that simplifies the complex travel ecosystem.

[1] The country-level increases compare searches for flights into the UK from these countries of origin the day before the announcement on 11^th October 2022 with the day after the announcement.