Travel Counsellors took as many bookings last week as it did for the whole of January 2021.
The company reported the highest new leisure booking week since the start of the pandemic with sales now back to nearly 90% of 2019 levels.
The record week came ahead of the government announcing the scrapping of all testing requirements for the fully vaccinated from February 11.
Several high-value single travel bookings to the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and South Africa were made for travel this year.
More than a quarter of bookings are for holidays in February and March. The next most popular period is July, accounting for almost 10% of all bookings.
The most popular destinations for last-minute travel are:
- Spain
- UAE
- US
The top summer destinations are:
- Greece
- Spain
- US
Almost 90% of UK Travel Counsellors are making bookings in January, while Ireland is the most active market.
Business travel bookings are now running at 70-80% of 2019 pre-pandemic levels, with the majority of bookings being for immediate travel in January and February. The UK and US are the top selling corporate travel destinations.
Global sales director Jim Eastwood said: “People are booking now to travel before the end of February, and securing their preferences for summer trips, whilst also planning ahead for winter sun.
“The pent-up demand is increasing the volume and value of bookings and we anticipate this trend to continue, following the recent government announcement to scrap all testing on entering the UK for fully vaccinated travellers.”