High-end bookings are continuing to drive strong booking momentum beyond the end of the traditional peak selling period, according to speakers on a Travel Weekly webcast.
Speaking in a panel discussion initially scheduled for the Travel Weekly Future of Travel Forum in London before its cancellation due to national industrial action, Designer Travel co-owner Amanda Matthews said the traditional post-peaks “breather” was yet to materialise.
“We were 39% up on our best ever January and after a quiet start, February boomed too,” she said.
“March is carrying on in the same vein and where as an agent you would normally be thinking ‘it’s time for a breather’ and to get ready for peaks, that breather hasn’t come. It’s almost like peaks has carried on for another month.”
Matthews said margins had improved against pre-pandemic and said she hoped they would continue to increase following a swing towards the agency’s traditional luxury product in March following a broader mix in January and February.
Fred Olsen Travel retail director Paul Hardwick said high-end bookings were behind continuing momentum for the 17-branch agency, which also has 62 franchisees.
He said: “We saw a really strong January and February. Booking volumes have slowed down in March but average booking prices have gone up. Luxury products are selling really well for later on this year and even into next year.”
Hardwick said expansion of the business during the pandemic made it hard to make year-on-year comparisons, but added the agency had regularly seen double weekly pre-pandemic sales this year.
He also said margins were around 1% higher than pre-pandemic.
Classic Collection Holidays chief executive Andy Freeth said January was always expected to compare favourably to the previous year due to the impact of the Omicron Covid variant in 2022.
But he said that January and February sales together had still “significantly” outstripped prior year, with higher booking values and “bucket list” bookings helping drive growth.
Freeth also hailed the growth of Classic’s long-haul product range, adding that while volumes “weren’t huge yet”, the trade was slowly switching business to the operator as it became aware of the breadth of its offering.
Harry Hastings, co-chief executive of US specialist Ocean Holidays, described January as “stonking” after a softer fourth-quarter of 2022, but said there had been a notable drop-off between January and February, which he attributed to airlines pulling back on early-year incentives earlier than normal.
Despite the drop, Hastings said booking values were significantly up due to higher pricing across its Ocean Florida and worldwide luxury Winged Boots brands, and added: “We are really pleased with the past two or three months in its entirety.
“Looking forward, there’s been some good news about the economy so maybe things are going to get better and better.”
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