Industry analyst GfK reported a bumper start to the New Year for high street agents.
Summer bookings were up 20% year on year in the first three days of January and bookings on the high street up 33%.
GfK reported summer 2015 bookings for the week to Saturday January 3, down 4% on the comparable week a year ago. However, the latter ended on January 4 so reflected an additional shopping day.
David Hope, GfK business group director, said: “The peak booking period has started well. It’s very, very pleasing. It suggests the Christmas advertising campaigns are working.”
He added: “Shop channels showed the strongest growth – up by one third on last year in the first three days.”
The trade went into the New Year with bookings for the summer ahead of the same time last year.
Season to date bookings to the end of December were 5% up year on year following several months of growth, with the month of December up 5%, November up 2% and bookings for the season to October up 6%, with revenue also ahead.
Family bookings showed the sharpest rise, up by 8% for the summer season at the start of December, with July and August showing the greatest growth by departure month. Package sales were up 6% for the same period and all-inclusive bookings up 9%, with GfK identifying the top-growth destinations for this summer as the Balearics, Florida, Cyprus, the Canaries and Mexico.
Bookings for the current winter season have gone less well. GfK reported winter bookings for the season to November down 4%, with revenues also down. However, family bookings still showed growth for the season, up 4% year on year, and so did all-inclusive bookings up 5%.
GfK reported winter holidaymakers switching away from the US West Coast, Asia and Australasia to the Caribbean and Mexico.
It noted Egypt and Tunisia “showing strong growth” for both winter and summer and said: “We feel Egypt is coming back in popularity.”
However, durations continue to shorten with GfK reporting bookings of four to six nights show the greatest growth this winter.