Travel agents are having to issue stark warnings to clients to manage expectations as summer availability becomes “a major issue”.
The trade has continued to report strong late sales, with many agents hailing May as a bumper booking month.
But finding holidays to match clients’ requests has become increasingly challenging, according to agents, exacerbated by slow turnaround times for quotes from some suppliers and high consumer expectations.
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The tight summer availability has led agents to warn clients to book now and be flexible about their holiday needs and budgets.
Advantage Travel Partnership said it was telling holidaymakers they risked missing out on a holiday this summer, after its latest research showed summer availability was now “increasingly limited”.
Leisure director Kelly Cookes said: “We are seeing that customers are still indecisive about whether to take a summer holiday this year and it’s not been helped by stories surrounding passport delays and airport queues. The problem is if they don’t book now they may not find what they want at a price they want to pay.”
Spear Travels chairman Peter Cookson said held-over bookings were to blame.
“Supply is a fairly major issue because of the backlog from 2020 and 2021,” he said.
“[But] customers don’t believe us when we say there won’t be any late deals this summer and still have unrealistic budgets at times.”
Spear’s May sales were 6% ahead of May 2019, with Cookson hopeful 2023 would be “more normal”.
Haslemere Travel managing director Gemma Antrobus has urged her clients to be as flexible as possible but said many had particular wishes despite leaving it later than normal to book.
“I’m trying to manage people’s expectations,” she said. “My favourite saying now is that if you are looking to go away this summer you are late to the party unless you are super-flexible.”
Tivoli Travel director Jo Richards said consumers would have to adapt their demands. “People are just going to have to compromise because there is less availability,” she said.
Deben Travel owner Lee Hunt said sourcing family accommodation was particularly tricky, with bookings lost as a result. His agency’s May sales were more than 40% up on 2019.
“The challenge is finding the right availability. Lots of families are looking for interconnecting rooms. We have also tried going to hotels directly to get rooms. It’s leading people to Airbnb or online retailers.”
An additional problem has been the turnaround time from some operators, particularly on complex quotes. “We’ve had operators which have taken two or three weeks to get back to us,” he said.
Spear Travels said it had lost bookings because clients were “fed up waiting for quotes”. Cookson said: “We get the blame but the whole of the UK is short of staff in every sector. It is incredibly frustrating.”
Premier Travel director Paul Waters agreed timing was an issue.
“What we are seeing is more bookings being confirmed with suppliers that historically would not have been preferred. It’s been more about who can service our clients’ quotes the quickest so we don’t lose bookings and so we can get what clients want,” he said.
Premier’s sales this month topped May 2019. The first three weeks enjoyed double-digit sales rises, the third week 28% up on three years ago.
The Travel Network Group said paperwork and call wait times continued to be an issue for agents.
Vim Vithaldas, chief commercial officer, said: “Feedback from members is that increased administration arising from cancellations and call waiting times continue to be challenging for them.”
TTNG enjoyed one of its strongest trading weeks last week since the pandemic started, with the majority of bookings relating to this summer. The late booking surge has mainly been for holidays to Spain, Greece and Turkey but said long-haul sales were also rising, said the consortium.