Travel Counsellors reports record year despite 'softer' second half

Travel Counsellors’ chief executive has hailed a “record year” for the company despite a softening of the market in the second half.

 

Speaking to Travel Weekly at the agency’s annual conference in Liverpool, Steve Byrne revealed global revenue of £1.09bn for the year to date and 7% year-on-year growth in the number of bookings.

 

The UK market has recorded £895 million in revenue, representing a 7.3% year-on-year increase.

 

Byrne expressed confidence that performance in 2026 will be even stronger, pointing to “record forward bookings”.

 

He revealed premium leisure sales are growing at a faster rate than budget holidays because “that’s what we’re concentrating on and because more-affluent customers have greater propensity to be able to travel”.

 

More: Travel Counsellors targets 100,000 new leisure customers in next year

 

“Focusing on premium leisure continues to be our strategy,” he said.

 

“It’s a sizeable market in its own right and we’ve got big opportunities to grow in it. All the investments we’re making and the whole business strategy is orchestrated around making us even better at acquiring and retaining more premium leisure customers.”

 

Byrne stressed the company still has plenty of short-haul product and “that will continue”, adding: “A premium leisure customer will still be interested in a city break and a short-haul beach holiday.”

 

While short-haul destinations such as Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal are still “super popular”, he said: “The long-haul destinations are where we really want to play.”

 

Byrne noted “uncertainty” in the market caused by the Budget, due to be unveiled on November 26, but expressed optimism that the level of growth the group experienced in the first half of the year will return once chancellor Rachel Reeves has stepped down from the despatch box.

 

“It’s inevitable people will be a little cautious until they know more about the extent of the tax measures due to be announced,” he said.

 

“I’m sure the growth that we saw in the first half will return once those customers who have lost a bit of confidence know what they are dealing with.”

 

He pointed to Travel Counsellors’ travel tracker survey and other external research which reveal travel is a spend consumers are willing to prioritise, and forecast confidence to be boosted further by price stabilisation.

 

“I think we’ll see some price stabilisation in the market,” he said. “We’ve all seen since Covid that holiday pricing has increased but that has softened in recent months – we’ll probably still get some single-digit pricing growth into next year, but not at the levels of previous years.”

 

Travel Counsellors’ UK network now stands at 1,715 agents with about 250 joining this year. Globally, there are 2,300 Travel Counsellors agents.

 

Byrne said the company is committed to only taking on “quality agents” who will be “the right fit” for the company.