Family market a concern for some despite big hitters’ positivity

Barrhead Travel, InteleTravel and Not Just Travel were among the large agency groups reporting record-breaking January performances this week, though smaller firms shared mixed experiences including a challenging family market.

The payday weekend was credited by some for a significant uplift in sales, with The Travel Network Group’s homeworking arm Independent Travel Experts (ITE) reporting an almost 60% increase in bookings compared with the previous weekend.

Barrhead Travel said its annual Back to the Floor Day on Saturday coincided with its best trading day ever. 

Not Just Travel stated it had four times as many record-breaking sales days in January compared with last year, while InteleTravel revealed Thursday, January 29, was its first £2 million sales day.

Not Just Travel founder Steve Witt said growth in cruise sales was outstripping land product as he insisted: “We’re not just keeping pace with the market; our sales are growing at a faster rate.”

Barrhead Travel, which arranged for 80 members of its head office team to join frontline agents in branches, revealed bookings on Saturday were up 37% year on year, capping a month that delivered growth “across all areas”.

InteleTravel said its January bookings rose by 44% year on year and revenues grew by 35%, with cruise revenues up 67% year on year.

Gary Gillespie, managing director of ITE, said: “The final week of the month delivered a clear uplift on the previous seven days, with trading up by almost 5% overall.”

He added that both days of the weekend performed “well ahead of normal expectations”.

La Vida Travel owner Karen Marin Reyes said last month was “outstanding” for the agency’s Newport shop, adding: “We’ve done more than ever.”

Buckley Travel owner Jacqui Bowring said it had been the business’s top-performing January, while Johnny Fielding, owner of Northern Ireland-based agency JF Travel, said bookings were up compared with last January, but one market sector was less buoyant.

“Our biggest issue was the family market [last month] – it was definitely slower,” he said.

Highlighting pricing as a key barrier, he noted: “There aren’t a lot of families with £4,000 lying around.”

Sunlounger Travel co-director Iain Kirkbright described last month as “steady”, adding: “I wouldn’t say it set the world alight.”