Travel agents say holiday sales are “ticking along” despite increasingly negative media reports about the cost-of-living crisis.
Fears of spiralling household bills have so far failed to put a dampener on bookings post-Covid but recent research suggests it is starting to affect consumers’ choices of holidays as the latest reports predict inflation will reach 18% next year.
But high-street agents said they have not detected any drop-off in sales, with late bookings for short-haul destinations still dominating enquiries, and remained optimistic about future sales.
Barrhead Travel enjoyed its best sales week since pre-Covid last week.
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Jacqueline Dobson, president, Barrhead Travel, said: “We’re rounding off August with ongoing demand for new bookings.
“Enquiries are still growing and we’re cautiously optimistic there’s opportunity for increased interest in last-minute winter holidays over the coming months. There’s also been a fresh wave of demand for October school holiday breaks with ex-UK cruises and all-inclusive packages to the Med proving popular because of the value available.”
She believes clients will prioritise spend on travel next year. “I think the squeeze on household budgets will make people turn to agents – firstly, because of financial protection and secondly, to make holiday budgets go as far as possible and guarantee value-for-money,” she added.
Advantage Travel Partnership chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes also reported “strong” sales with about 50% of bookings departing within 12 weeks.
She said: “We are consistently outperforming 2019 on a weekly basis. It continues to be a very late market. The dominant destinations are short-haul which is in line with what we would usually see at this time of the year.”
Sales of long-haul holidays and cruise were also performing well, she added.
Pole Travel director Jill Waite said there was little sign of nervousness among clients due to the cost of living but admitted those already affected by price hikes “probably aren’t coming into the shop”.
She said: “Sales are ticking along; we’re still pretty busy with lots of enquiries. I don’t think people believe costs will go up [that much]; you just don’t know how true it all is. We are located in quite a deprived area but customers do not seem massively worried.”
Miles Morgan Travel chairman Miles Morgan was also upbeat. He said sales through the miniple’s shops had not “slowed down” this summer although there were fewer late bookings now coming through.
He said: “The mix has changed slightly. There are slightly less bookings for the next 12 weeks [compared to earlier this year].”
He also stressed many customers had chosen not to go away this summer because of the airport disruption, creating pent-up demand for 2023.
“People who have not been on holiday for three years will be very motivated to travel and could prioritise travel above other things,” he said, suggesting other sectors could be more badly affected by the cost-of-living crisis over the next 12 months.
C The World director Carolyn Park agreed: “I genuinely don’t think the cost of living will impact our business. I think holidays will be the last thing to go.”
She added: “We are quite happy [with sales]. We are chugging along.”
Sutton Travel managing director Andy Tomlinson said sales had quietened down in the last couple of weeks but said: “Sales have returned to normal expectations for August; they are ticking along. It will be interesting to see what happens in September and if the cost of living has an impact.”
Prices were already higher for 2023, he said, predicting all-inclusive holidays would sell well as consumers sought to budget for next year.
Deben Travel owner Lee Hunt said the agency had seen a “big uplift” in ex-UK cruise bookings due to clients not wanting to travel through airports because of potential disruption.
“Around 30% of our current enquiries are cruise, a lot more than we used to do and we put that down to people wanting to sail out of the UK [not fly],” he said.
The agency has also continued to enjoy strong late sales this month. “It’s been a good August for new bookings. A lot of people said they left it late to book because of Covid restrictions,” he said, adding: “We are not having people ring up to cancel because they can’t pay the balance.”
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