Flood-hit agencies report mixed sales performance following ‘back-to-back’ storms

When asked how flooding had impacted the agency’s Sunshine Saturday (6 January) sales, Lynch said: “People are not thinking about holidays right now – Sunshine Saturday is too early in the year for us.

"We have better days towards the end of January. We do still make bookings, but it’s never our best day.”

Elsewhere, Dame Irene Hays, owner of Hays Travel, said the UK’s largest agency had faced “some challenges” between Christmas and New Year due to “very bad weather” and flooding. 

However, although some Hays branches had been forced to close, Dame Irene said business had “come back” since the storms.   

Earlier this week, she told TTG the business had got off to a “really encouraging” start. 

Courtney World Travel partner Stephanie Jepson said the one-branch agency in Tewkesbury was operating as “normal” despite large parts of the town being under water. 

Jepson said the water levels were at their highest since 2007 when the town of 15,000 was one of the worst hit in the UK. 

“We’ve had back-to-back storms – and the fields are full of water,” Jepson told TTG. “My one route into work was cut off for a day. The water was coming over the pavement. The only way to get to the branch was on foot or drive very slowly.

“There are idiots who drive too fast and the water goes into the houses. The water breaches the properties.” 

But she added: “Booking levels have been perfect. We’re a tough lot here in Tewkesbury. 

“People either book online or they wade in to come and see us. Obviously, when the town floods we do more emails.

“I’ve been here for around 30 years. We’ve got a really loyal customer base – most of our business is repeat. Customers know that they can email, ring or come in and see us.”