Holidaysplease has reported a substantial hike in average selling prices compared with pre-Covid.
Director Charles Duncombe told a Travel Weekly webcast that average sales for the homeworking firm were now between £5,500 and £6,000.
Prior to the pandemic the average sale was around £4,500 per booking for the company, which sells predominantly long-haul, four and five star holidays.
Duncombe attributed the rise to consumers wanting to spend more after the lockdown rather than a rise in holiday prices – but predicted prices will inevitably go up.
He said: “At the moment, it [our average sale] is near £5,500, sometimes even touching £6,000, and that’s not because prices have gone up yet.
“There are loads of factors at play. You’ve got the fact that during lockdown people couldn’t spend their money. There’s only so many new cars you can buy or extensions to your house. There was a lot of disposable cash sitting around, and unused holiday entitlement they haven’t been able to take so they want to go for 10 days instead of seven, or 14 instead of 10.
“And with the fact they’ve been caged up for so long, they [clients] want an upgrade on the flight, they want an upgrade on the room, they want to go all-inclusive. And so they’ve upgraded pretty much across the board every single element of the holiday. People want bigger and better holidays at the moment.”
But he said the increase in fuel prices and the fact companies will have to re-hedge again for next year will undoubtedly result in more expensive holiday prices in 2023. “I suspect they are going to [go up],” he said.
As prices rise the current average selling prices are unlikely to be maintained at current levels, particularly as the cost of living starts to bite, he admitted.
He said: “I think it [average selling price] will drop back a bit. Some people will get a taste for it, which is great, but we also need to factor in the cost of living situation that we’ve got at the moment and will have for a time to come.”
The company is advising clients to book early because of the forecast price rises.
Duncombe added: “We are saying that to customers. And we can say it looking them straight in the eye because it is absolutely going to be the case. I think most customers understand that so it’s just giving them some certainty.”