Agents claim continued record sales volumes for the second full week of January mark a return to traditional peak booking patterns.
Firms stressed there is no particular trend, but reported more ‘late’ bookings for the next three months than usual and higher numbers of enquiries from new customers.
Blue Monday – the third Monday in January dubbed the most depressing day of the year and a peak booking day – also saw strong sales, according to agents.
Spear Travels head of retail operations Natalie Turner said: “It definitely feels like a more traditional peak trading period, and sales support that. Friday and Saturday were our busiest sales days of January so far, with similar revenue on [Blue] Monday, and significantly up versus January 2019.”
Almost half (45%) of bookings were for travel before the end of April. Both Spear and Premier Travel noted high numbers of new clients, some of whom had sought help on direct bookings during Covid.
“People have come back to us after the help we gave them 18 months ago,” said Premier managing director Paul Waters, adding: “I’m definitely not feeling blue. It’s the best week we’ve ever had. It’s the number of bookings rather than the value that has increased.”
Waters predicted family sales would pick up in early February after the first pay packet of the year.
Miles Morgan Travel chairman Miles Morgan said stores had a “buzz” again, and also reported that a “more than normal” number of clients were booking to travel between now and March.
“We’re quietly going back to where we used to be,” he said. “The reason January is the busiest month is because it’s miserable; people want something to look forward to. That’s not changed.”
Travel Village Group chief executive Phil Nuttall compared the current season with Januarys of more than 20 years ago.
“Sales have been great since January 2. It feels like we’re back in the late 1980s, or early 1990s, when we had great Januarys and people queued at the door; it was what we lived for,” he said, joking: “There were no ‘Blue Mondays’ in 1986!”
Oasis Travel managing director Sandra Corkin agreed: “It’s extremely busy. We’ve had a fantastic start to the year and that is continuing.”
Fred Olsen Travel announced an all-time record start to the year, with all divisions exceeding sales targets for the week to January 8.
“The company’s turn-of-year marketing didn’t hit until January 14 so hopes are high for another record week this week,” said managing director Steve Williams.
Hays Travel North West said average selling prices were up by £100 on January 2020, with direct debit payment schemes proving popular.
Around 30% of sales have been for late departures versus 70% for summer. Independent Travel Experts’ sales increased in the last week with every day “higher than Sunshine Saturday”.
The Travel Network Group reported passenger numbers up 20% week on week. “Sales have remained strong over the weekend, albeit passenger levels were a little lower than Sunshine Saturday,” said commercial director Katharina Peck.
The Advantage Travel Partnership said Saturday sales were not quite as high as Sunshine Saturday but “very close”. It hailed last week “another bumper week”, up 61% on bookings and 73% on revenue.
“We’re seeing strong sales across all sectors,” said chief commercial officer Kelly Cookes.