Travel Counsellors has reported a spike in bookings on ‘Blue Monday’ as UK travellers aim to escape “the most depressing day of the year”.
The homeworking agency has seen a 20% increase in enquiries for destinations offering physical or mental wellbeing activities since the start of December.
This resulted in a bumper sales day on Blue Monday, January 21, which is said to be the ‘most depressing day of the year’.
Travel Counsellors reported £3.3million in sales, a 17% increase on the same time last year.
Chief executive Steve Byrne said: “We’ve seen a real uplift in bookings to wellness destinations as travellers opt for healthier, more active holidays, or experiences that offer the ultimate feeling of getting away from it all.
“In fact, the Global Wellness Institute states that 830 million wellness trips were taken in 2017, which is 139 million more than in 2015. With the trend set to continue, the number of wellness trips taken worldwide this year could reach one billion.”
The surge in bookings for wellbeing travel experiences follows the company’s Winter Wellness initiative which kicked-off in December.
During the December to January booking period, Travel Counsellors’ most popular experiences included golf holidays, beach-side resorts, horse riding, hiking and cycling.
Long-haul holidays to the Indian Ocean topped the company’s sales chart on Blue Monday with Mauritius and Sri Lanka among the top ten destinations booked.
Byrne added: “We’re delighted to see that sales so far this month reflect the care and attention-to-detail we show to the hundreds and thousands of customers who travel with us each year.”