This year’s strong demand for overseas holidays is forecast to continue into the 2024 peak‑booking period, with retailers attending Abta’s Travel Convention this week discussing plans to expand.
Fred Olsen Travel retail director Paul Hardwick told a Travel Weekly Business Breakfast at the convention in Bodrum on Tuesday: “About a third of our business is new to us this year – the highest it has ever been. Europe has been more popular than ever. High-end, five-star properties have been strong. We have bookings far out for 2025 and 2026.”
Claire Evans, Midcounties Co-operative chief operating officer for travel channels, agreed, reporting “we’re booking into 2025”, and Dawson & Sanderson managing director Annelene Hutton said: “High-value, multigenerational cruising and touring are key opportunities at the moment.”
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The Travel Network Group chief executive Gary Lewis reported “a record year for many of us, with record numbers, record margins”, although he added: “The concern is passenger numbers. They’re flat [on 2019]. Some parts of the market are not taking a holiday.”
All four retailers reported plans for expansion. Hardwick said: “We’ve 18 shops. We get the keys to a 19th in Worthing this week and aim to have 25 in 2025.”
Evans revealed plans to expand Midcounties’ homeworker numbers by 30% and hinted at opening outlets in non-travel retail spaces, saying expansion “may not always be bricks and mortar but working with partners where people might think about buying travel”.
She also noted: “We opened a new, more digitally enabled, store in Sutton Coldfield [in September]. We’re not going mad but will open where we see an opportunity.”
Hutton said: “We’ll look at expansion [from 20 shops] next year. We’re cautious, [but] nothing is off the table.”
Lewis told attendees: “We have 1,100 members and we’re consistently having conversations about how we help members grow. The restriction on growth is people.”
Hardwick forecast “a good peaks”, suggesting the traditional slowdown in November-December “may not be as sharp as previous years, but the peak will be strong”. He noted: “People are buying travel for Christmas now more than they’ve ever done.”
Hutton agreed: “I’m confident for January. We’re looking at various campaigns leading up to it.”
Evans suggested: “The peak was longer last year. It’s a marathon not a sprint now. We start on Black Friday.”
However, she noted a “softening” in demand for Egypt amid the violence in Israel and Gaza, saying: “We’ve not seen significant cancellations, but price and bookings have softened going into winter.”
Lewis said: “It does feel like the peak goes on and on.” But he added a note of caution saying: “The cost of living is a concern. We’ve seen [clients shifting] from five-star to four-star and from 10 days to seven.”
He also noted the sharp increase in capacity for 2024 among major operators and said: “It will be a challenge if we see a bloodbath on price. Our members understand their value and hopefully won’t discount.”
Evans agreed: “We want to make sure none of us get into a discount spiral.”
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Picture: AG Studios