Trade hopeful of carrying early-year momentum into summer
Agents went into May on the back of a strong trading month in April, with some seeing sales surpass pre-pandemic levels as customer confidence strengthens despite the cost-of-living crisis and war in Ukraine.
Sales have been particularly buoyant for travel in May and June, with some clients still “holding off” from booking for the peak months of July and August.
Don Bircham, managing director of Hays Travel North West, said sales for his 40-plus shops had been up by 25% in both March and April compared with the same months in 2019. “Sales for the season are very good, we had a very good March and that’s continued through April,” he added.
“We’re finding 2022 is more about the traditional summer holiday destinations: Mediterranean, Spain, Balearics, plus a bit of US and Caribbean. It’s very much your typical summer holiday family destinations.”
Sandra McAllister, Althams Travel managing director, added April had been “far busier” than she had expected, with monthly sales exceeding 2019 levels for the first time in 2022.
“Greece has done exceptionally well, but that’s probably because their restrictions were lifted early,” she said. “Turkey and Spain have also done well, that’s where we get the bigger numbers.”
‘Strong lates market’
There’s been a similarly positive experience for this year’s TTG Top 50 No.1 Travel Agency, Worcester’s ArrangeMy Escape. “Sales are pretty good, they’re back to pre-pandemic levels,” manager Jennifer Lynch said. “Probably slightly better, but that’s because we were a fairly new business before the pandemic.”
However, despite the strength of the recovery in bookings, most agents agreed client behaviour has not yet returned to pre-Covid patterns. Westoe Travel director Graeme Brett said: “Sales for the summer season are going well, compared with normal, although people aren’t booking as far ahead as they would usually do.
“There are really good bookings on travel in the next three to four weeks rather than the summer period, there’s still people holding off. Customer confidence is not fully back yet.”
With many consumers holding back on booking their main summer break, the lates market will be in the spotlight in the coming weeks. “We’re expecting a strong lates market, as long as there’s no restrictions slapped on us and everything stays the same – no vaccinations that dampen things or the war worsening,” said ArrangeMy Escape’s Lynch. “Prices going through the roof may also hamper it.
“We’ve definitely seen a massive increase in demand for short-haul, I think because of confidence levels. People don’t want to travel too far. If something goes wrong, they can get back home easily.”
McAllister also predicted there would “definitely be a strong lates market this year”.
Availability squeeze
For most agents, though, the cost-of-living crisis and continuing war in Ukraine are not stopping clients from splashing out on their holidays this year.
Sandra Corkin, owner of Oasis Travel in Northern Ireland, said: “Average spend is higher as many clients are feeling the need to spoil themselves, and there is definitely a desire among clients to escape and have that long- awaited holiday.”
The impact of the war in Ukraine has also only had a limited effect on sales for agents, mainly to nearby countries such as Poland and Bulgaria. “The only difference it has made is on city breaks to Poland," said Westoe’s Brett. "We need to get that message across to people that they can still travel."
Althams Travel has also seen sales to resorts in Bulgaria “dip a little” since the war broke out in late February.
More positively, most agents are not having any significant problems so far with finding availability for clients this summer, although Lynch said her team were “starting to struggle” to find larger rooms and apartments for families in all-inclusive resorts.
“People are expecting a lot of availability because it’s been a slow year, but actually it’s been the opposite, so availability is going to drop as we near summer,” she added.
Agents urge patience amid 'nightmarish' call waits
Call waiting times have become a “nightmare”, agents have told TTG, with colleagues often having to hang on for two hours or longer to get through to operators and other suppliers.
Operators have struggled to recruit enough new employees over the past six months to meet rapidly increasing demand, while a high level of Covid-19 sickness has led to under-staffing in their call centres.
ArrangeMy Escape manager Jennifer Lynch said: “I don’t know what the solution is. We’ve got to be patient for a little bit longer. It will get fixed. We’ve all been through the toughest years we’ve ever been through. “People lost their jobs, and we can’t get people back into the industry. People need training too.”
Don Bircham, managing director of Hays Travel North West, called the current long wait times “ridiculous”, although he added it qualified as “good news” given it reflected people’s demand to book holidays.
“We’ve got staff coming in first thing in the morning, and it’s not unusual to wait two- to two-and-half hours to get through,” said Bircham.
Graeme Brett, Westoe Travel director, urged operators to “find ways” to enable agents to make minor changes to bookings online without having to wait in a queue for call centres to answer.
Althams Travel managing director Sandra McAllister added the situation had started to improve in recent weeks. “There were serious issues, with the main operators sending us messages saying: ‘Sorry, we’re closing departments due to lack of staff’,” she said.
“It has certainly improved [since then]. However, our staff are saying they’re still hanging on waiting longer than they should. It’s not back up to what it should be yet.”
After two – at best disjointed, at worst disastrous – summers, travel is on the cusp of a whole new era. The Covid handbrake, at least on mainstream travel options, has finally been lifted. And once everyone’s clients start getting away this summer, those more cautious friends, family and colleagues will quickly see the Med is still as blue as it ever was, the paella just as laden with seafood as in the past – and the first tipple of the day every bit as refreshing. It’s time to start going on holiday again.
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Rob Gill
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