The Co-operative Travel has predicted a holiday price war this peak booking period after seeing Dalaman overtake Majorca as Brits’ top hot spot for 2010.
Co-op, the UK’s third largest high street retailer of holidays, said that bookings for the last three months have shown signs of the market recovering.
Dalaman bookings were 82% up on the same period last year and the retailer’s top 20 destinations were collectively up 26%, with customers’ focus appearing to be on price and value for money.
The average price of a package holiday to Dalaman was £516, £79 per person lower than the average break to Majorca (£595), giving it the edge as holidaymakers seek to make their budgets stretch further.
Trevor Davis, director of retail distribution at The Co-operative Travel, said: “As the holiday sector recovers, the battle for bookers will intensify with companies seeking to increase their market share after a challenging 12 months.
“We’re offering as much as 20% off thousands of holidays or free child places, along with very low deposits of £50 per person to allow people to book early and take advantage of the deals available.”
However, Davis predicted that the deals and choices for holidaymakers will quickly disappear.
“If the current increase in bookings continues and confidence returns to the market, we will see fewer bargain deals being offered.
“What’s more, many operators are reducing capacity and this, combined with the recent high profile collapses of major travel businesses, will mean that there are fewer holidays for sale when it comes to people wanting late deals.
“Savvy bookers should take advantage of the deals available now and choose their destination with care.”
Summer 2010 bookings
| Destination | Increase in bookings* | Average price pp* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dalaman (Turkey) | 82% | £516 |
| 2. | Majorca | 12% | £595 |
| 3. | Orlando | 28% | £998 |
| 4. | Costa Blanca | 17% | £454 |
| 5. | Crete | 3% | £651 |
| 6. | Sharm El Sheikh | 71% | £760 |
| 7. | Bodrum (Turkey) | 72% | £498 |
| 8. | Ibiza | 5% | £485 |
| 9. | Larnaca (Cyprus) | 9% | £665 |
| 10. | Zante | -11% | £476 |
| 11. | Tenerife | 9% | £621 |
| 12. | Corfu | 9% | £564 |
| 13. | Antalya (Turkey) | 69% | £803 |
| 14. | Paphos (Cyprus) | 23% | £849 |
| 15. | Menorca | 27% | £560 |
| 16. | Rhodes | 0% | £565 |
| 17. | Algarve | 0% | £525 |
| 18. | Costa Del Sol | 19% | £578 |
| 19. | Bourgas (Bulgaria) | 52% | £533 |
| 20. | Las Vegas | 61% | £1,050 |
| Overall | 26% | £630 | |
* Figures based on over 100,000 bookings between September and December 2008 and 2009
** Average selling price based on over 100,000 package holiday bookings.