A tour operator has hailed travel agents for helping to deliver its busiest January for holiday bookings.
Wonky Sheep Travel runs its own tours but also acts as a supplier to agents with a particular focus on helping with group enquiries.
The Cardiff-based firm provides services to several agency groups including Protected Trust Services, Janine Loves Travel, Hays Travel, Merlin Travel Group and Ramsay World Travel, with others in the pipeline.
“It’s been quite unusual compared to previous years,” said owner Dave Dulin.
“Usually it quietens down until Christmas, shows signs of build-up until new year and then gets going from the start of January.
“But this time it was really busy in the two days before Christmas, New Year’s Eve and the first couple of days of 2025 before dipping and really picking up these past 10 days.”
Dulin said the bookings, which don’t include Wonky Sheep’s own tours, had also seen higher spend patterns on trips compared to in previous years.
He added: “It used to be a lot of people searching for cheap deals and wanting price comparisons, but it’s been more about wanting specific types of trips and willing to spend more within reason to get what they want.”
Last year, Wonky Sheep announced the launch of its Experiences tours, the first of which heads to Argentina next month, with an event at Dracula’s castle for Halloween coming in October.
“This is just the start,” said Dulin.
“We’ve got something lined up for just before Christmas and then we’ll be announcing our first tours for 2026 soon, both long-haul and short-haul, with the aim of offering something a little bit different to what’s readily available.”
Wonky Sheep also runs sports tours including the Official Wales Football Fan Travel, Scotland Fan Travel and has just launched Wales Rugby Fan Travel.
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