24 November 2009

Ã¢â¬ËœMini recoveryÃ¢â¬â¢ in package holiday sales

A ‘mini recovery’ in package holiday sales is being claimed by one of the UK’s largest travel agency chains.

Research by The Co-operative Travel, based on more than 180,000 winter holiday bookings, suggests that the market is starting to take off despite the recession.

But the recovery is patchy with a clear north-south divide emerging.

The company reported an increase in bookings of up to 46% at northern airports compared to last year.

Scotland, the North West and Yorkshire are leading the way with Edinburgh (up 27%), Leeds/Bradford (28%), Robin Hood Doncaster (46%) and Liverpool (41%) airports all showing increases.

The only southern airports to show a rise in the sample are Heathrow and Luton, with a more modest 11% and 5% respectively.

Popular winter sun destinations are showing increases in bookings compared to last year with Turkey (up 31%), Egypt (19%) and Tunisia (16%) leading the way.

The agency chain’s retail distribution director Trevor Davis said: "The increases shown by our figures are positive news for the travel sector. However, the pattern of the recovery is by no means consistent.

"Comparing our figures with the overall travel market, which is virtually flat, it seems that we are seeing a mini-recovery just for package holidays and only within pockets of the UK.

"However, the signs of growth are there and hopefully bode well for a strong summer 2010 market when the main booking period begins in the new year."

ABTA also predicts a busy period for the travel sector, with as many as 2.8 million people expected to go away over Christmas and new year.

Chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "There is a lot of pent up demand for holidays, but we are still seeing customers booking late and looking for good value for money, so there are no surprises that the winter winners at this stage are those outside of the eurozone, with package holidays and all-inclusives still proving particularly popular ways of keeping budgets in check."

by Phil Davies