Hoseasons hails record Easter as trade bookings soar

Hoseasons has hailed the busiest Easter period in its 80-year history as holidaymakers made the most of spring sunshine to take UK short breaks.

Easter bookings made through the trade were up 18% on last year.

General manager Gemma Brown said this was largely down to the hard work of travel agents offering Hoseasons breaks to those unable to holiday in Lanzarote as planned after the Spanish island was hit by floods.

She added: “Our trade partners’ knowledge of our product and solutions-focused approach means they’re perfectly placed to offer our holidays as a last-minute alternative when things go wrong – something which, on this occasion, contributed to a record-breaking Easter performance.”

Overall arrivals were up 8% on the same period last year, with more people taking breaks over the two-week school holiday period than ever before, including the previous record year of 2022.

The domestic operator reported 16% growth in three-night breaks compared to Easter 2022 and 12% growth compared to the same period last year, with two thirds of all Easter holidays sold classed as short breaks of four nights or less.

Cornwall was the most popular destination, while Devon, Yorkshire and Norfolk were also popular choices.

Brown said increased demand for shorter getaways was helping to deliver greater volumes of both bookings and guests, particularly in key holiday periods such as Easter.

She added: “Much is made of the lates market, and there’s no doubt the good weather helps to drive ‘pack and go’ bookings, but the reality is that only 13% of all our Easter breaks were booked within a week of arrival, while more than two-thirds were actually booked more than a month out.

“This just goes to show the continuing importance of an always-on approach to marketing, as well as the wisdom of running different data-driven campaigns designed to convert lookers to bookers at different times, including ‘pay day deals’ and ‘book early’ promotions.”