Early booking enthusiasm for trips during the festive period has been dampened by fears that Border Force strikes may cancel flights.
The concern was raised as part of winter booking trends revealed by the Advantage Travel Partnership.
Border Force walkouts are planned on December 23-26 and 28-31 at selected UK airports.
However, the consortium is hopeful that widespread discutoption can be avoided.
Chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes said: “Collectively, across our UK-wide travel agency membership, we are seeing bookings departing over Christmas up by 55% compared to last year, as consumers make up for lost time.
“We are also seeing the average booking value up £1,435 compared to same period in 2019 as customers look to upgrade their holiday for a longer duration, choose to travel further afield or trade up their room or board basis.”
She added: “We are hopeful that any disruption by the planned strikes will be minimised by the time the Christmas holidays start and that everyone’s travel plans can run smoothly.”
Advantage is seeing pent-up demand for Christmas markets, ski holidays and breaks to warmer destinations as millions of people plan to fly out on more than 31,000 flights over the Christmas period.
The average selling price this Christmas and new year is £4,393 compared to £2,958 at the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.
Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Alicante and Fuerteventura are the top five short-haul winter sun destinations.
New York, Dubai, Cancun, Jamaica, Orlando are the top long-haul points.
Ex-UK cruises are selling “exceptionally well” for the Christmas period.
Cookes added: “The feedback from our members is that people are keen to make up for lost time this Christmas and take advantage of the ability to travel to places that have been largely off limits for the last couple of years, be that short-haul or long-haul.
“We are also seeing that in many cases people are looking to invest more in their holidays by trading up their rooms or travelling for longer periods, perhaps because they want to make them count. Whilst people are looking to make the most of their holidays this winter, they are also seeking ways to travel that are also cost-effective.
“Ultimately, these Christmas trends are really encouraging for the travel industry. The wide range of trips that are being booked shows that people are not letting rising prices at home stop them from travelling abroad.”