Booking patterns for next summer are returning to normal, reversing the late sales trend following the pandemic, the Advantage Travel Partnership has said.
Kelly Cookes, chief commercial officer, said summer 2023 had been an anomaly. “We saw a really late market – the latest I’ve ever seen since I’ve been in travel – 50% of bookings we saw for summer booked and departed within 12 weeks. Generally, for us in a normal summer that would fall between 35-40%.”
Advantage’s bookings for summer 2024 have made up 54% of all sales so far, with transactions up 67% at this point compared with September 2023. Nearly half of bookings made through the Advantage network departing next summer are for all-inclusive options. Advantage said this was due to the “continuing squeeze on disposable income”. The average length of stay for a holiday next year is 10 days.
Advantage said long-haul destinations were proving popular for Christmas, with Mexico, Australia and Thailand taking the lead in bookings. In total, 20% of departures for 2024 are for long-haul destinations. Among these, the US is most popular, taking 33% of share, followed by the Far East and Caribbean. Another 14% of all 2024 departures so far are for cruises, with the Mediterranean and Caribbean proving “particularly popular”.
The top-selling destinations among Advantage travel agents for 2024 so far are Tenerife, Antalya, Costa Blanca, Majorca and Lanzarote.
Cookes added: “It’s great to see the data reveal that consumers are looking to book holidays abroad in 2024 and that they are managing their budgets by booking early and opting for all-inclusive stays. This shows that holidays really are a necessity and something people are looking to prioritise in the year ahead.
“Our travel agent members are seeing strong bookings for October half-term and beyond, which is a very positive sign that the industry is continuing to thrive.”
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