Amid soaring mortgage costs and stubborn rates of inflation, clients have not been deterred from splashing their Covid savings on trips abroad after two three of disrupted travel plans, with Nationwide’s latest consumer spending report suggesting consumers will “throw caution to the wind” and spend nearly £1,500pp on holidays this year.

Nicki Tempest-Mitchell, Barrhead Travel sales and marketing director, told TTG’s Agenda 2023 Summer Breakfast on Tuesday (20 June) the Scottish agency had experienced a “phenomenal” start to the year. “Since January, we have been trading at record breaking levels,” she told delegates.

This, she said, had been driven, by an uptick in premium touring bookings to destinations such as Canada, as well as package holidays and cruise getaways. Tempest-Mitchell was echoed by Aito head of commercial Bharat Gadhoke, who said the premium end of the market had been “absolutely flying” since travel’s post-pandemic restart.

However, Elman Wall managing director Jonathon Wall warned challenges such as the current economic climate and ongoing supply chain issues still loomed large for travel, despite the strong start to the year. “We can only go upwards after years of diminished business,” he said. “But there are still issues around economic uncertainty and the supply chain.”

Tempest-Mitchell said this was why it was value that was continuing to drive sales. “All-inclusive breaks are performing very well as people are looking for good value trips, but long-haul is the last sector to get going, driven by capacity issues,” she explained.

The threat facing the long-haul market, Gadhoke believes, is price. “Right now we are seeing customers swallow the extra costs – but when will this stop?” he mused.

Despite travel edging towards a positive summer, Wall urged the industry to err on the side of caution when it comes to lates. “It may or may not happen,” he said. “There’s always uncertainty around lates – you don’t know for sure if customers will go for it or not.”

However, Tempest-Mitchell explained how Barrhead had, so far, not seen the usual drop off in bookings at the start of the 2023 summer season.

Crucial to ensuring summer 2023 is the fruitful one the industry has longed for is recruitment, the panel agreed. “I don’t think [recruitment] is the same for all businesses, some have had staff come back since the pandemic but others haven’t,” Wall explained.

The challenge of bringing more staff into the industry isn’t one lost on Barrhead. “We have certainly had challenges around recruitment,” Tempest-Mitchell said. “But we’re moving towards a much stronger position – we will have hired 100 apprentices by the end of the year.”

Meanwhile, Rick Jones, UK hospitality, travel and leisure leader for PWC, believes travel faces both a positive and negative situation when it comes to recruitment. “You have those who stayed in the industry during the pandemic and those that came back – and they are the people who usually have their heart in travel, meaning you are left with a strong workforce of dedicated individuals,” he said.

For Gadhoke, hiring experienced specialists is crucial to the success of Aito. “We need experienced professionals to meet the expectations of our customers who have paid a high price point for a certain level of service,” he said.

One way to attract younger recruits, Gadhoke said, was by centring recruitment messaging around businesses’ sustainability agenda – a topic which resonates with the younger demographic.

“I think [sustainability] is coming, and it has to come,” Jones added, while Tempest-Mitchell explained customers are still not regarding a company’s climate footprint as a priority when booking a holiday, as they expect travel businesses to offer sustainable trips as standard. 

“Customers expect trips to be sustainable – it has to be ingrained into your DNA as a company,” Wall concluded.