Travel Counsellors reports best month on record

Travel Counsellors has revealed January was its strongest month on record, with January 31 described as its best-ever Saturday.

The homeworking group said January closed with sales of £140 million, up from £138 million in January last year.

It added that the final weekend generated about £12 million and the final Saturday alone more than £3 million.

The month included “several record-breaking trading days”, the company said, with repeat customers playing a key role in the sales performance.

The group hailed an 11% year-on-year rise in premium leisure bookings and a 23% year-on-year increase in cruise bookings.

The company credited its global incentive, the TC World Cup, with helping to drive sales. More than 2,100 agents were split into 40 teams across six countries for the month-long competition, designed to “strengthen collaboration, momentum and shared success”.

Jim Eastwood, global sales director at Travel Counsellors, said: “January was a powerful reminder of what makes our global community so special, but the strength of our model is that support, connection and collaboration exist all year-round, and throughout every stage of [an agent’s] journey.

“What stands out is the collective strength and care of our community – learning together, building together and sharing success.

“That sense of togetherness underpins our ‘With us, it’s personal’ proposition, supporting both our leisure and corporate [agents] and the long-term relationships they build with their customers and clients.

“That collective approach supported our strongest ever month on record, including our biggest-ever Saturday, with performance driven by repeat customers returning to their [agent], premium leisure demand up 11% year on year, and cruise bookings increasing 23% year on year through the January booking period.”