Sovereign is hoping to capitalise on the increasing popularity of the long-haul market by growing its new Luxury Holidays Winter 2007/08 programme.
Product manager Joanna Pristernik said the introduction of Oman, Dubai, St Lucia and Mauritius has doubled the number of long-haul destinations available, while new hotels and resorts are being added in other long-haul destinations previously featured.
She said: “We originally had a very small range of long haul but it’s doing really well for us so we are looking for more destinations.”
Mexico alone is up more than 200% although that was compared to very low figures previously.
“We’re also able to do this thanks to our inclusion of more scheduled flights in the programme as opposed to just featuring First Choice flights.”
Pristernik said early bookings are being driven by a 5% discount on a number of hotels when booked before the end of August and free child places, which are also on offer at selected destinations.
Prices lead in at £269 for three nights’ half-board accommodation in Andalusia, including flights and transfers.
Recent research by Mintel predicted that long-haul would account for 20.6% of the overall travel market by 2011, while Lastminute.com reported in February that its online long-haul sales were increasing dramatically.