Independent agents have cautioned that finding availability will become increasingly tricky as strong peak season sales continue.
The peak selling season for summer bookings traditionally starts to tail off at the end of February.
But Annelene Hutton, managing director at Dawson & Sanderson, said sales remained stronger than previous years, despite being slower than January.
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“We don’t feel peaks is coming to an end yet,” she said.
“As sales continue to be buoyant there is a risk availability will be restricted, especially for the busier summer months.”
Travel House head of retail Leanne Williams said agents would need to ensure clients were flexible on durations and destinations.
Limited availability
“We all need to be prepared for limited availability after the high demand we’ve experienced in January,” she said. “Customers who book late need to be prepared they may not get their first choice. Agents need to be ready to combat this.”
Travel House’s sales, buoyed last week by high-end round the world cruises, tours and package bookings to Australia, were 60% above target.
The Travel Network Group, whose sales rose last week but average booking values fell, said members were urging clients to take advantage of prices available now. Membership services director Stephanie Slark warned: “There won’t be cheap holidays in lates.”
I’ve not known [sales like] this in my whole career, not at the end of February
Oasis Travel managing director Sandra Corkin said some clients were already switching their attention to next year. “We’re certainly finding sales are coming in for 2024 because of [the lack of] availability,” she said, adding that February’s sales were set to hit 80% of January’s target.
“If we hit target, and I think we will, it’ll be the best February in our history. I find it astonishing,” she said.
Miles Morgan Travel chairman Miles Morgan agreed: “I’ve not known [sales like] this in my whole career, not at the end of February.”
The Advantage Travel Partnership said February sales were 13% up on 2019, with 31% more bookings sold for summer than at this point in 2019 following its ‘book early’ message.
Chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes said: “Availability is likely to become a challenge, but at the moment we’re still seeing operators adjusting capacity to meet demand.”
Price ‘remains issue’
Ashley Quint, director at TravelTime World, said price remained an issue, with some sales taking longer to convert because customers’ budgets had not moved with the market.
Kuoni said sales through its branches were ‘holding up well’ and noted encouraging high-end honeymoon and wedding sales.
“Some of these are delayed trips but they’re very much back in play,” said a spokeswoman.
She added: “Last year we saw later booking patterns generally, but we’ve noticed since January our forward departures for 2024 have really picked up, so people have more confidence booking complex trips and making future plans.”
Sandals Resorts’ UK operator, Unique Caribbean Holidays, reported a bookings spike on Valentine’s Day, which accounted for 17% of its bookings last week.
The difference in the number of bookings for the operator made on its lowest performing day last week, February 12, and the highest, February 14, was 168%, the company said.
The average duration of holidays booked on Valentine’s Day was 10.6 nights, above the average of 10 nights, and stand out destination was Barbados. Sandals Royal Barbados took 29% of the day’s sales.
Managing director Karl Thompson said clients appeared to making the most of their annual leave and budget with one longer trip, adding: “Most bookings made on this day were for departures in 2023 suggesting that couples are keen to get away as soon as possible, which could be attributed to the recent cold snap.”
More: Scottish tourism survey suggests rise in outbound holidays this year
Agent Diary: January was good, despite schedule changes, customer queries and sluggish suppliers
Peaks bookings ‘up a third’ over pre-pandemic January [Jan 18]