The desire by consumers to book their holidays earlier, the greater affordability of long-haul air travel and a “business as usual” attitude from consumers in the face of the pound’s decline in value, have all been cited by the trade as factors that helped to boost business throughout the festive period.
Andrew Earle, of Hull-based Andrew Earle’s World of Travel, said two of his three stores had seen a 40% sales increase last month – their best to date in December – with half of the new growth coming from bookings to the US.
Earle said around half the agency’s clientele who booked during the January peak period in 2015 made bookings in December 2016 ahead of the new year. “We’re very happy,” Earle told TTG. “The only question left now is how to keep generating new business for January.
“We have had some extremely large long-haul bookings and it’s becoming clear to us that people are realising that a fortnight in Spain is great, but they could go to Australia for two weeks for £1,500 instead.
“That mindset is opening up a lot more choice for travellers. This growth in long-haul that we’re seeing is also being helped by more affordable air fares from airlines like Norwegian operating to the US.”
Travel Counsellors experienced the “best December in [its] history” with UK managing director Kirsten Hughes reporting a sales increase of 28% and average booking value rising by 13% year-on-year for the homeworking agency.
Paul Rice, co-owner of Off Broadway Travel in Welwyn, said the agency, which saw growth of just under 15% last month, had one of its “highest-ever” December performances.
Rice said he believed the success had been forged by consumers booking proactively so as not to miss out. “They know what they want and are booking early,” he said.
Gary Lewis, chief executive of The Travel Network Group, said the consortium saw “excellent numbers” between Christmas and New Year.
John Sullivan, head of commercial at The Advantage Travel Partnership, said the organisation had enjoyed a “strong” December during which it had recorded “double-digit growth” for each week of the month.
The news of strong trading by agents followed Monarch reporting a rise in mobile bookings over the festive season for the third year in a row – mobile bookings made on Christmas Day were up 176% year-on-year, and 206% year-on-year for Boxing Day bookings.
