Travel firm First Choice are switching all of their holidays to all inclusive deals in 2012. In a bid to establish the company as the first mainstream AI specialists in the UK. Claiming that demand for all inclusive holidays has grown by 32% over the last five years and that the move will save the average family booking holidays in Lanzarote and elsewhere up to £500 per week.

First Choice - part of TUI Travel – already offer a high proportion of all inclusive deals. With around 65% of their existing holidays already falling into this category. As of next year though this will be the only type of deal that they offer, which basically means that every package sold will include hotels, flights, transfers, meals and drinks. A move that has already drawn criticism from groups such as Tourism Concern and which is also bound to prove unpopular with many local island businesses. Especially bar and restaurant owners.

First Choice´s decision has partly been taken in response to increased competition from low cost airlines. Whose cheaper fares have in turn encouraged more and more consumers to shun package deals in favour of DIY holidays. Booking their own Lanzarote flights and accommodation direct.

Figures from the National Office of Statistics certainly support this, revealing that the package holiday market in the UK has shrunk from 20.6 million taken in 2002 to 17.9 million last year. The move is also designed to create differentiation between First Choice and Thomson Holidays, another TUI Travel brand.