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Early bookers taking advantage of special deals will lead to a third of summer holidays being sold in January and February, Abta estimates.
Some companies report ‘exceptional’ days of trading this month with business up by as much as 30-50% over the same period in 2014.
Increases in people booking via tablets or mobiles have been recorded with up to 40% of online bookings expected to be made via these devices, up 10% on last year.
A favourable exchange rate against the euro is also helping to boost January bookings to European destinations.
Cuts in Air Passenger Duty may have also given a boost to bookings, the association says.
The departure tax is being reduced for many long haul destinations from April 1 and abolished for children under 12 from May 1. This will cut £142 off the price of a family holiday for two adults and two children to Florida.
Members selling UK holidays have also reported a strong start to 2015 with bookings for the summer up as much as 27% in some areas.
As 2014 was a good year for domestic tourism, this has encouraged more people to book early to ensure availability.
The most popular overseas destinations based on early bookings are the Balearics, the Canaries and Greece. Long haul Caribbean destinations continue to prove popular, including Costa Rica, Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Mauritius and the Maldives are also in high demand.
UK beach breaks look set to be popular with Cornwall selling particularly well.
More than a third (36%) of people booked their holiday further in advance last year compared to only 24% people who booked closer to the departure date.
This continues a trend from 2013/14 when 27% people booked a holiday earlier than usual and 20% left it to the last minute.
The boost in early bookings is being driven by younger people with more than half of 16-24 year olds and 44% of 25-34 year olds booking their holiday earlier in 2014.
Families are also more likely to take advantage of the benefits of early booking – almost half (46%) of those with children under 5 and 43% of those with children over 5 booked in advance.
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “A favourable exchange rate and a cut in Air Passenger Duty, combined with consumers starting to feel more positive about their finances, should benefit the travel market in 2015 and so it is very encouraging to see a strong start to the year.
“One outcome of the recent financial crisis is that consumers are savvier and so we are not surprised to see that more people are booking early.
“The travel industry traditionally launches some of its best deals at this time of year and holidaymakers who book early can take advantage of these, as well as getting greater choice and availability.
“These benefits are even more pronounced for families where availability of child places for the summer months can fill up quickly.”