Blue Monday comes midway between Christmas and the January payday and is a key day for holiday searches. Travel 2 said sales on that day were up 35%, making it the best trading day since 2010, with figures pointing to one of its most promising turn-of-year campaigns to date.

Travel 2 introduced a new Cruise Plus mini brochure for this year’s peaks and said that cruise bookings were up 34% year-on-year, with the Middle East and Europe being the biggest drivers. Touring was another strong performer, up 16%. Travel 2 hopes that its new boutique-style tours in Asia will continue to resonate well with agents seeking a more flexible style of tour for their customers.

While destinations such as the Indian Ocean and Middle East remain popular – both up 23% – South America has emerged as the operator’s top performing area.

Bookings across the continent so far this year are up 51%, driven largely by Argentina which has witnessed a 122% boom in bookings.

Lisa McAuley, managing director dnata Travel B2B Europe, said: “A big thank you to all of our agents who have responded so enthusiastically to the Travel 2 turn-of-year campaign.

“Our pricing is strong and we will continue to invest in training and events to fully equip our agents with the tools needed to secure those all-important sales at this key time of year.”

Travel 2 has added more than 30 incentives and 105 fam trip places to its best-selling destinations as part of its 2018 peaks campaign.