Bookings surge for operators
Vertically-integrated tour operators have reported a surge in late summer business, which they hope will save a disappointing year.
Sales up to the peak season and during July were slow, but demand during August has been strong, with many people prepared to pay brochure prices.
A spokeswoman for Thomson said: “Bookings are coming in, but very, very late. We’re getting hundreds of people booking the day before departure. But it is coming in and it’s a question of operators holding their nerve.”
Thomson still has deals for 14-night holidays in late August, which are traditionally difficult to sell because they overlap into early September when children return to school. Typical 14-night half-board prices to Minorca are £529 per person, down from £744 per person.
A spokeswoman for MyTravel added: “We’ve actually sold a lot of bookings early and are comfortable during August. There are bargains around, but most of them are during the shoulder period of September.”
MyTravel has a range of one-week deals in September from regional airports to the Spanish islands from £199 per person.
Thomas Cook also reported strong sales. A spokeswoman said although bookings for Spain and Greece, which use the Euro, were poor, the non-Euro destinations had done very well.
“We are clear market leader for Turkey with 32 per cent market share and Malta and Bulgaria are up year on year,” she added. “Egypt has also performed excellently this year.”
Thomas Cook still has some deals in mid-August with, for example, seven-night packages to Crete down from £509 per person to £321.
Ginny McGrath
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