Hoseasons reports 61 per cent booking increase

Hoseasons has reported advance bookings for 2010 up 61 per cent to 100,000, compared with the same period last year.

Chief executive Richard Carrick said the company had sold 31 per cent more holidays so far this year than in 2008 and re-tierated his claim of earlier this week that there had been a seismic change in consumer behaviour, with people spending less and choosing to holiday in the UK.

"People have been spending less and booking late," he said. "The four to eight week period before booking has seen the biggest growth, with a massive trend towards short breaks."

Carrick said that in 2010, Hoseasons will sell one million sports and activity holidays with 140 of its 440 holiday parks offering those types of breaks.

He admitted that its European villas programme was 10 per cent down on the same period last year and had been 30 per cent down before last Christmas.

Meanwhile, VisitEngland, the new name for the English Tourist Board, said domestic trips were up by 14 per cent, or 2.7m, for the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year.