The consortium on Tuesday (10 September) published the results of its latest business impact analysis, which revealed an uptick in new customers, as well as a raft of new leisure market trends.

According to the data, more than three-quarters of Advantage agents (79%) have experienced an increase in new customers, especially those aged between 35 to 54.

Advantage members also reported a hike in late deals, the data revealed, with 42% of all summer departures booked for departure within 12 weeks – up 4% compared with 2023.

"That has been growing steadily post-Covid, but to be up almost another 5% year-on-year is really interesting,” said chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes.

So what have been some of the most eye-catching developments monitored by Advantage over the past nine months? And how can agents capitalise on them?

Demand for regional departures

Cookes highlighted the potential for agents to capitalise on growing volumes of departures from smaller regional airports.

She said more Advantage members were seeing their clients seek to travel from their local airport and that they were increasingly basing their choices of destination on what is available there.

"This allows package operators to capture those local communities who perhaps aren’t willing to travel further," she added. 

Several airlines and operators have started to shift their focus to regional airports. Jet2.com and Jet2holidays earlier this year revealed it had snubbed Gatwick for its new southern base, choosing Bournemouth instead.

Jet2 has since brought forward the launch of its Bournemouth base to February 2025, and will offer routes to the Canary and Balearic islands, as well as Turkey, Portugal and Greece.

Meanwhile, easyJet in May announced it would open its 10th UK base – Southend – next summer, while efforts to reopen Doncaster Sheffield airport are under way, a former Tui base.

“They capture a different market that perhaps was only travelling on the low-cost that was available from that airport previously,” Cookes explained.

However, despite resurgent demand for regional departures, Cooks said airlines and operators were continuing to add capacity and new destinations at their main bases.

"They’re all looking at how they can diversify and pick up different types of passengers,” she said.

Shoulder season and new destinations

According to the survey, nearly eight in 10 Advantage members (79%) said they have noticed more requests from clients for holidays during shoulder seasons as people seek to avoid extreme summer temperatures, beat the crowds and get better deals.

"Some people are actually thinking whether they want to go away when it’s really hot,” explained Advantage chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said. “Customers are starting to think whether they should travel out of season and outside of the school holidays.”

The emergence of a shoulder season market has already impacted bookings; Advantage said bookings for October half-term were up by 15% year-on-year, while spend for the same period was up by 25%.

"We’re already seeing really strong volumes for October,” Cookes continued. “When you break that down, it could be the shoulder season, it could be the attractive pricing, it could be the capacity increased, or it could be all of those things tied together."

As for destinations, more than a quarter of Advantage members (27%) said they have noticed customers asking for lesser-known destinations – including the Greek island of Paros and Asturias in northern Spain – as a way to avoid more heavily touristed hotspots.

Members, though, said they did not believe the demand for different destinations was linked to recent overtourism protests seen in many busy locations – including Barcelona and Spain’s islands.

“We haven’t seen the protests and demonstrations against local political issues, manifesting as overtourism debates, impact holiday sales, and it’s a really positive sign our travel agency partners are seeing people look for lesser-known destinations,” said Lo Bue-Said.

“This desire for lesser-known destinations is a great opportunity for our travel agency partners to highlight all the incredible destinations that are available to travellers at great prices.”