Ahead of target

Leanne Miller, a director of Cumbria Travel, said the agency had seen “its best-ever January”, with sales in its Whitehaven store up 40% year-on-year. A new shop in Workington also doubled its target in the month, she said.

“The two have pulled in well over £1 million; people seem to be preparing to spend a lot of money.”

She pinpointed seat sales by Gulf airlines as stimulating long-haul multi-centre sales. “A lot of new destinations have come to the fore as a result,” she said, but added that Thailand “had gone through the roof”.

“The seat sales have been fantastic and that has encouraged a lot of people that maybe would have hung on.” She added that social media “has been huge for us”.

“We’ve been picking up business from all over the country. We’re pinching ourselves, we can’t believe it.”

Gemma Antrobus, owner of Haslemere Travel, said the agency had already surpassed last year’s figures for the month by January 18. “It’s not been a surge of summer or ski but a bit of everything, people seem to be interested in travel in general,” she said.

“Maybe it’s Brexit or Trump or this ghastly weather, I don’t know. We haven’t had too many timewasters or people wanting to compare prices with the internet.”

Among operators, Travel 2 reported its biggest-ever sales week, claiming a 35% year-on-year increase last week. Top-performing destinations for the company so far include the Indian Ocean, up 59%, Asia, up 52% and the Middle East, up 43%.

Travel 2’s Cruise Plus product saw a 20% increase in the first few weeks of January, while its Simply Luxury brand was reportedly up 50%.

Best ever week

Gordon McCreadie, sales and marketing director for Gold Medal, Travel 2, Pure Luxury and Simply Luxury by Travel 2, said: “To say we have had an amazing start to peaks feels like an understatement. Being able to report that we have achieved the best week for the business in its 34-year history is an incredibly proud moment for us all.”

He said strong pricing, investment in training and incentives had helped, but added: “As always, none of this would be possible without the ongoing support of the trade”.

A Kuoni spokesperson said last weekend was “one of the busiest we’ve ever had”.

“The end-of-the-month pay day, combined with some fantastic sale messages and pro-active marketing, has helped to drive demand,” she said.

Kuoni’s TV campaign has a few days left to run and the operator said this had provoked more enquiries for touring holidays. “Overall trade has been performing extremely well, reflecting the additional investment we’ve put into supporting travel agents,” the spokesperson said.

UK breaks

The rosy picture extends to the domestic market, with Hoseasons reporting trade sales up 33% year-on-year in the last four weeks.

Sales overall in the first week of January were up 26%, with trade sales up 36%.

Managing director Simon Altham said: “These are staggering figures. We’ve always been huge supporters of the trade and this shows why – given the right product and the right support, agents still do an amazing job when it comes to selling our holidays.

“That’s why we are proud to be offering the biggest range of cottage breaks on the high street and why we’re looking forward to working with agents again in 2017.”