The boss of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays is “pretty hopeful” of a strong market in the coming months, following the fall in inflation.
Steve Heapy, chief executive of the airline and package tour operator, made his comments as Jet2 unveiled its 12th UK base at Bournemouth airport.
Sales for the summer 2025 programme from the airport opened on Tuesday (March 26) and bookings started to come in during the first morning.
Heapy told a Travel Weekly webcast that the new base was introduced because the company had seen “a lot of demand” from travel agents and consumers in the region.
He also highlighted how consumers are continuing to prioritise holiday spending over other expenditure such as lottery tickets, streaming services and going to pubs and restaurants.
“In terms of the cost of living, inflation has come down and again, at some stage, interest rates will follow,” he added.
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“Hopefully, we’ll be in a virtuous circle…inflation lowers, interest rates lower, people have a bit more money in their pocket…they spend more money on holidays.
“We’ve had the announcements in the budget so people hopefully will start feeling a bit more well-off.
“With inflation down, I think once again people will be looking very much towards a holiday and maybe going on an extra holiday or upgrading.
“I am pretty hopeful that we will see quite a strong market going forward, given all the decent news that’s coming out.”
Commenting on destinations, he said: “They’re all doing okay to different extents; there are no destinations that massively down. I’m pretty encouraged by what we see.”
Nor are the brands seeing any signs of customers avoiding the Mediterranean because of high temperatures in the peak summer season, he added.
He pointed out that Rhodes, which was hit by wildfires last summer, is seeing strong bookings, as are other destinations such as Skiathos.