This weekend will be a key indicator of whether late sales will make a recovery this summer, according to Advantage chief executive John McEwan.
As schools begin their summer break, there are still large numbers of holidays left to sell and the trade is banking on a last minute rush of bookings to bolster sales.
McEwan said: “This weekend will give us a good indication of whether the market is going to come back or not. June proved to be a good month, but July has not kicked in. It will have to happen quite soon if it is going to.”
Sales by Advantage agents are about 2% down year on year in a market that is around 10%-11% down for this summer, while the consortium’s revenues are up on last year.
But the outlook for the business travel market is bleaker. Volumes of airline sales are around 32% down in the corporate sector in general, while Advantage’s volumes are around 20% down, said McEwan.
“Fewer people are travelling but people are also downgrading to economy flights and we have seen average selling prices come down by 12%-15%, from around £600 to £500. The impact on the corporate market is more severe,” he said.
Director of corporate Ken McLeod predicted the business travel market would be slow to recover. “It will not come back quickly but hopefully it will not get worse by the end of the year and we will see some recovery next year.”
The pace of decline in terms of sales through the consortium’s business travel agents has slowed in the last three months, he added.
Advantage is encouraging its business agents to sell more hotel bookings to make up for revenues lost on airfares as a result of customers downgrading their seat spend, added McEwan.
Meanwhile, the Air Travel Insolvency Protection Advisory Committee (ATIPAC) reported earlier this week that the rate of travel agency failures has doubled in the last year.