Sunday January 6 was a much busier booking day than ‘Sunshine Saturday’ for online travel agency Teletext Holidays.
The company saw 17% more bookings on that Sunday than on Saturday January 5 – a greater difference than last year, when the Sunday was 10% up on the Saturday.
Sarah Newton, marketing director of Teletext Holidays, said: “Sunshine Saturday should be renamed Sunshine Sunday when it comes to online travel.
“Despite all the extra press this year around Sunshine Saturday, the gap between Saturday and Sunday actually grew this year – proving it’s Sunshine Sunday when it comes to online.”
She said the final Sunday of December was also busy, and the end of January is expected to be a peak booking day, when the Teletext Holidays sale finishes.
Teletext is currently running a social media campaign entitled #HelloSunshine, encouraging people to say goodbye to the January blues.
Last week’s widespread media coverage of Sunshine Saturday prompted online and social media marketing from Teletext Holidays but the marketing team reported there was not much more than a ‘blip’ in search volumes.
However, the OTA saw 25% more traffic for “cheap holidays” on the Sunday compared to the Saturday, with bookings for Greece, Morocco and Dubai up 50%.
Newton said long-haul bookings are also doing well, because the euro exchange rate is affecting European holidays and low-cost services from the likes of Norwegian are proving popular.
The firm, which specialises in marketing online and converting customers over the phone, saw a record year in 2018.
“We are getting better online, with Google Adwords, digital marketing and improving our search engine ranking – we’re coming of age,” said Newton.
She also said the company has analysed the possible impact of Brexit and found it does not seem to be deterring bookings.
“Brits are always keen on holidays. With low deposits and paying by instalments, it’s part of their annual budget,” she said.
“More of them are booking all-inclusives so they can lock in their prices.”
Newton joined Teletext Holidays in autumn 2018, from rival OTA Love Holidays.