The gap in average selling prices of holidays sold by The Co-operative Travel Consortium’s agents between now and in 2019 is starting to close as consumers become more budget conscious.
Speaking at this year’s The Co-operative Travel Consortium Conference, head of retailing Alison Holmes said average prices were higher at the start of this year when customers booked holidays for the first time since Covid.
The drop in average sales prices compared with the start of the year was evidence of consumers becoming more budget-conscious due to the cost-of-living crisis, she said.
She revealed there was now only a £19 difference in the average sale price per passenger for holidays booked through the consortium’s 130 agents compared with 2019. Average sale prices sit at £1,155 per person compared with £1,136 in 2019.
“At the beginning of the year we had customers spending more money because they had savings from Covid. People were going further afield and spending more but as we have gone through the year the gap has closed,” she said.
She attributed this to rising household costs and interest rates as well as market uncertainty.
She added: “We are seeing a shift in people being more budget-conscious when they are booking their holidays.”
The consortium’s margins also remain higher than in 2019, at 10.3% now versus 9.3% three years ago.
The average discount being offered by consortium agents has dropped from 2.6% in 2019 to 2.4% now, but Holmes urged members to bring this down further.
“It would be good to get below 2%,” she told members, adding: “The average discount in our retail shops [The Travel Co-op] is 1.5%. It would be good to get to that level.”
Consumers were also continuing to wait until closer to departure than pre-Covid to book their holiday, said Holmes, who anticipated a continuation of the later booking trend.
“I think this will happen into 2023. People are waiting to if they can afford their holiday,” she added.