For many, the festive period would not be the magically slovenly occasion that it is without a good ol’ telly binge. But as far as we’re concerned, it was all about those all-important turn-of-the-year campaigns as the peaks season ramped up.

But which travel companies were the shinning stars? Who provided the unmissable moments and who delivered the wow factor?

Kuoni

In a year that laughed in the face of convention, Kuoni followed suit. Moving away from its Maldivian heartlands, the operator gave us ‘Travel out of the Ordinary’, a globe-spanning TV advert to showcase the destinations agents may not have realised it served. Working hard to emphasise that it offers “more than just the Maldives” the promotion shows viewers a swimmer floating through a variety of destinations including the plains of Africa and an Italian piazza.

Royal Caribbean

With striking scenery combined with intriguing flashes of longitude and latitude coordinates, Royal Caribbean’s peaks offering is far from your typical cruise ad. With not a jazz hand or smiling chef in sight, the ‘Where Extraordinary Happens’ promotion provides a modernised take on the type of land-experiences available to passengers in a range of destinations operated by the line.

Thomas Cook

Acting as a welcome antidote to the Turkey-fuelled Christmas coma, Thomas Cook’s ‘You want, We do’ advert provides a playful shot in the arm. Crammed with home video-style shots of families enjoying their holidays, Gifs, cartoons and bright colours, the advert is sound tracked with a funky cover of Motown classic Get Ready by The Temptations. The advert also sees Cook feature a same-sex couple for the first time.

Thomson

Tugging at the holiday heartstrings is Thomson’s "Moments" promotion, the operator’s final campaign ahead of its rebranding to Tui later this year. The film follows a child’s journey from beach to pool with “moments” frozen around her, before ending with a stirring finish as she jumps into her father’s arms. Maybe it was the impending return to work, or maybe because of the fast-dwindling chocolate supply, but TTG imagines we weren’t the only ones welling up by the end.

Jet2holidays

Jet2holidays invited us to ‘hold their hand’ and come away on holiday in its peaks promotion. Opting for a bright and lively ad, the operator follows a young boy holding his parent’s hand as the pair walk through a range of holiday moments including, boarding a flight, playing on the beach and sampling an all-you-can-eat buffet. Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand provides a fitting soundtrack to the family-centred film.

On the Beach

Joyously playing to the couch potato inside all of us, On the Beach invited customers to "Lounge On" this peaks season as it focused on the “ease and simplicity” of booking through its website. The OTA’s ad follows, or more accurately centres on, a customer after they make a booking and as if by magic; their world begins to move around them with the use of changing scenery backdrops while they relax on a sun lounger.

Virgin Holidays

Virgin Holidays’ promotion offers a tongue-in-cheek play on the peaks season rush portraying holidaymakers on a Caribbean beach running in slow-motion towards floating lilos which spell out the word “Sale”. It carries the tagline: “The Virgin Holidays Sale, it won’t last forever” and follows the operator’s #SeizeTheHoliday campaign, which launched earlier this year.

P&O Cruises

The steady hand of comedian Rob Brydon returned to the P&O helm as part of their latest campaign. The playful advert follows Brydon as he meets fellow passengers and enjoys excursions during a sailing with the line. P&O Cruises claimed it would become “the first cruise line” to feature local travel agents’ branding on its advert during the wave booking period by providing tailored call-to-actions featuring individual companies’ branding at the end of the national promotion in different regions.