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Agencies welcome last-minute Easter sales boost
Hays Travel, Travel Counsellors and Barrhead Travel are among agencies that have welcomed a flurry of last-minute Easter bookings.
The bank holiday weekend, from April 18-21, falls later this year, which has been attributed by some as contributing to the late sales spike.
“We are seeing an increase in last-minute bookings for the Easter break, likely because it is later this year,” said a Hays Travel spokesperson.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium said a total of 11,282 flights are scheduled to depart UK airports over the Easter weekend, equating to more than two million seats, with the figure up 6% compared with last year.
Barrhead Travel said Easter departures had been “strong” for the group this year, with late sales helping to swell revenues.
Company president Jacqueline Dobson said: “With Easter falling much later this year, we’ve seen most families travel earlier in the season.
“In general, Easter departures have been strong – and, similar to last year’s patterns, this season seems to be a lates market with families making last-minute decisions to add an additional holiday.”
More: Travel agents report dip in US demand
Barrhead Travel said Easter departures had been “strong” for the group this year, with late sales helping to swell revenues.
Company president Jacqueline Dobson said: “With Easter falling much later this year, we’ve seen most families travel earlier in the season.
“In general, Easter departures have been strong – and, similar to last year’s patterns, this season seems to be a lates market with families making last-minute decisions to add an additional holiday.”
She added that all-inclusive trips and cruises had been the most popular holiday types for the Easter period.
Travel Counsellors chief executive Steve Byrne said: “We’re seeing a clear trend in last-minute Easter bookings, particularly to the United Arab Emirates, indicating positive short-term demand.”
He added that overall sales were 13% up in the year to date compared with 2024, with premium leisure up 17%.
Travel Club Elite managing director Colin Matthews said the Birmingham-based agency had enjoyed a “roaring start” to the Easter period, but there had not been any demand for last-minute trips.
As well as summer holidays and ski trips for the winter, he added that clients had also been booking cruises for 2026 and 2027.
Easter Friday is projected to be the busiest day for UK departures over the weekend, according to Cirium, with 2,949 flights set to take off.
The most popular international destinations for UK departures will be Dublin, followed by Amsterdam, Malaga, Alicante and Majorca.
Easter departures from UK airports remain 4% down compared with the Easter weekend in 2019, when there were 11,743 departing flights.
Last year’s Easter weekend ran from March 29-April 1, while 2019’s dates were April 19-22.
Abta estimated that 2.2 million people are set to travel overseas over the Easter bank holiday weekend, with Good Friday the busiest day for travel.
Members reported strong bookings for mainland Spain, the Balearic and Canary Islands, Greece, Turkey and Thailand.
Four-day city breaks have also recorded significant demand, with top destinations including Dublin, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Budapest, Rome, Paris and Dubai.
Hundreds of thousands of travellers are set to leave from Heathrow and Gatwick, with 187,000 departing from Stansted and 105,000 from Luton airport.
About 160,000 are expected to depart from Manchester, while Birmingham is anticipating its busiest-ever Easter period.
Meanwhile, Liverpool John Lennon airport is expected to handle more than 60,000 passengers over Easter bank holiday weekend.
Ferry terminals and the Channel Tunnel will also be “extremely busy”, Abta said.
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer added: “Easter is always one of the busiest times of year for the travel industry, with millions taking advantage of the long weekend to take an overseas beach or city break.
“Over the past few months, Abta members will have been working hard to help travellers secure the ideal Easter break.
“As always, the roads and public transport will be very busy, so always check for any planned engineering works and leave plenty of time to get to your departure [point].”
Simon McCulloch, chief growth officer at travel insurance firm Staysure, said: “With holidaymakers eager to escape the unpredictable British weather, it’s no surprise that familiar sunny destinations such as Spain and Portugal remain firm favourites this Easter.
"However, it’s exciting to see a growing interest in more unique destinations like Norway, reflecting a shift toward more adventurous and culturally diverse travel experiences.
“Our research also finds that 22% of people cited extreme heat as one of the top reasons for change in travel behaviours, which might be a reason for holidaymakers travelling to some of the more popular Southern European countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy now, and not during the August Summer holidays.
AllClear Travel Insurance said Easter signalled "an early start to holiday peak season this year", as it reported a year-on-year rise in the percentage of people going on holiday during April and May.
Its survey of 2,008 adults "suggests there will be a longer than usual peak season for 2025".
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