The boss of Henbury Travel featured on BBC Breakfast this morning (March 30) as part of a report on how the industry is gearing up for a busy Easter getaway.
Richard Slater, Henbury’s managing director and northwest regional chair for Abta, was interviewed in his Macclesfield shop by BBC transport correspondent Katy Austin.
He told her: “We’re seeing incredible demand…back probably to 2019. In fact, it’s higher than that demand.”
When asked about holidaymakers’ cost-of-living concerns, he said: “Some people are having to cut their cloth a little bit and potentially shorten their holiday.”
He later told Travel Weekly that several independent travel agents in Cheshire had expanded while multiples had contracted – and he’d seen a “large number of new clients” who had previously booked online and had “their fingers burnt”.
Bucket-list sales, for holidays such as river cruises, are strong, he added, saying clients are opting for “quality rather than quantity”.
The BBC report highlighted how the industry is preparing for the holiday season and hoping to avoid the queues and disruption that hit the headlines last Easter.
Covid restrictions had just been eased but airports struggled to cope with the volume of passengers as they had not been able to replace all the staff lost during the pandemic.
Chris Woodroofe, Manchester airport managing director, told the BBC: “This year, our passengers can expect a great experience at Manchester airport.
“I can absolutely reassure passengers that they won’t see the queues that they saw in summer 2022.”
Awais Nasser, Tui’s ground operations duty manager at the airport, added: “There will be a lot more staff members here to assist passengers on their arrival and them where they want to go.”
Karen Cox, managing director at ground handling firm Swissport UK and Ireland, said there is “an absolute war” for labour because of Covid and Brexit.
“The labour pool within the UK has to come largely from the UK itself.
“I am confident we are ready.”
Afterwards, Abta said on Twitter: “Having worked with the BBC on this over the last few weeks, it was great to see this morning’s @BBCBreakfast piece highlighting all the work the #travelindustry has done to get ready to run smoothly this year and offer passengers a fantastic experience.
“A big thank you to Richard Slater @HenburyTravel, ABTA’s Northwest Chair, for offering the travel agent perspective and highlighting the high demand for travel this year.”
Having worked with the BBC on this over the last few weeks, it was great to see this morning’s @BBCBreakfast piece highlighting all the work the #travelindustry has done to get ready to run smoothly this year and offer passengers a fantastic experience 1/2 pic.twitter.com/gh7kxncqtI
— ABTA Members (@ABTAMembers) March 30, 2023
Slater has appeared many times before on radio plus local and national TV, explaining to consumers about the travel industry and benefits of booking with an agent.
