Customers buying holidays with If Only have “some very sexy budgets” and are keen to travel, despite the restrictions.
The luxury trade-only operator said it is optimistic about sales in the peaks booking period after Christmas because clients are “adamant” they want to take a holiday.
Gordon McCreadie, general manager at If Only, told a Travel Weekly webcast: “Customers are coming in with some very sexy budgets.
“It is: ‘I want to go in six weeks…I’ve got a hell of a lot to spend’.
“They want to go in the front end of the aircraft and in the best suites.”
He said feedback from travel agents has left If Only “pretty optimistic that Q1 is going to be pretty strong”.
“Even though sales are impacted at the moment [due to recent government restrictions on travel] we do feel post-Christmas there will be pent-up demand,” said McCreadie.
“We are still seeing a very strong order book for now, to the end of the month, and into Q1.
“Passengers are adamant to the point of aggression that they are going on holiday again.
“They will live with testing in resort, which is a lot more economical than testing back in the UK, and also the testing once they get back within 48 hours.
“[The new testing rules] are still having an impact on the lates market right here right now, but customers are still looking to commit to January, February, March next year.”
If Only has seen “a handful of cancellations” in the wake of the latest curbs, brought in amid concerns about the Omicron variant, said McCreadie.
“It certainly has killed new business to a certain degree,” he commented. “We’re seeing probably a drop of about 40% on what we’ve been seeing the two weeks prior to the announcement.”
However, McCreadie reported that agents are calling the operator about customers who are “adamant that they want to go” and want to know about what protocols to follow.
“There is a real resilience from travellers to make sure that they get the holiday that they want in the sun,” he added.
McCreadie did criticise the timing of the announcement about the new restrictions, on a Saturday evening, and the lack of government support for the travel sector.
“It is just forced upon us, we just expect to get on with it,” he said. “[The government] just don’t really seem to understand the impact of these decisions that they are making.
“There seems to be a real knee-jerk reaction.
“Covid is going to be here for who knows how long and it’s just going to be something we’re going to have to live with.”
He said bookings to the Caribbean continued to perform well throughout the pandemic and Dubai demand returned from September onwards.
“We just can’t keep up with demand for Dubai at the moment. Indian Ocean is always a real strong seller – the Maldives is our biggest selling destination.
“Customers are looking for more of an idyllic destination, and a lot more privacy.”
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