Fred Holidays forecasts this year’s peaks will be its most successful, having started the month with a record week of trading and sales up 144% compared with the same week in 2024.
The company also experienced its highest ever number of calls which were answered within 90 seconds on average.
It was the best week ever for cruise which accounted for more than 60% of sales with 55% of these for cruise-and-stay packages, 35% for river cruise and 10% for expedition.
The rest of the bookings were for rail and tailor-made holidays and tours which Fred Holidays attributes to the launch of its rail brochure and its recent re-brand.
More: Agent incentive released as Fred Holidays rebrands
The most popular destination was the US, followed, in order, by Canada, Italy, Spain, France, India, Germany, Norway, Portugal and Iceland.
Early indications for last week show that sales were up on the previous week, with many initial agent enquiries now starting to convert.
Fred Holidays has seen the number of agents booking with the operator up by 50% already this year, following a year when it saw a 100% increase in trade sales.
It hailed its Re:imagine campaign which features the company’s top eight travel trends for 2025 and its new Re:ward incentive for agents.
Tricia Birmingham, Fred Holidays director of tour operations, said: “I’m delighted with how positively we have started the peaks season, with all areas of the business smashing their targets.
“I’m particularly pleased with how well cruise has performed, with agents starting to realise that we work with over 40 cruise partners and have a team of experts on hand who can provide a tailor-made service combining cruise with flights, rail, tours and land stays.
“As we head towards our most successful peaks ever, I would like to thank our agent partners for their support and everyone at Fred Holidays for all their hard work.”