Comment: Travel industry has advertising boxed off

The travel industry's TV advertising blitz during the festive period typified traditional Christmas programming.

There were plenty of repeats, with old campaigns revived by Travel Supermarket and Lowcostholidays, and some blockbusters, most notably from the likes of Thomson and ?P&;O Cruises.

The clearly high production values, and budgets, behind their TV adverts contrasted sharply with very straightforward sales messages from the likes of Ryanair.

Meanwhile, rival budget airline easyJet got cheeky with its ‘Happy Bums' campaign featuring a succession of pert posteriors delighted to have secured a great deal.

And Booking.com caused something of a stir on social media with a UK version of its risque US ad that tries to make a virtue of the fact that its name sounds a bit like a certain swear word.

The intense competition at this time of year was in evidence between the big two, with Thomson's latest version of its Miles the Bear ad appearing during breaks in Take Me Out – the dating show Thomas Cook is sponsoring, along with two other primetime shows: the new Get Your Act Together and returning Stars in their Eyes.

It might sound as if I spent the whole of Christmas watching TV, but I can assure you that with two young children, that was certainly not the case!

It's just that the sheer weight of travel advertising on TV this year made it impossible to miss.

However things pans out, no one can accuse the industry of failing to promote its wares.