Operators begin slashing peak season prices
Operators are being forced to slash the price of peak season packages because they have been left with more unsold capacity than this time last year, according to one leading retailer.
The Co-op Travel said that there was ‘widespread availability across the board’ and family packages were being sold at prices less than a year ago.
Like-for-like packages are up to 34 per cent cheaper, said the retailer, which looked at 3,500 bookings.
It blamed the ash crisis, the World Cup, British Airways’ strikes and the shaky economy for the fact that so many families had yet to commit to a holiday this summer, forcing operators to cut prices.
Its research showed the biggest savings were in the Eastern Mediterranean, with Paphos in Cyprus seeing the greatest fall in prices followed by Crete, Zante and Turkey.
On average the price of a family holiday across the top 20 destinations for UK holidaymakers has fallen by 13.5 per cent, said The Co-op Travel, representing a typical saving of £232.
Director of retail distribution at The Co-operative Travel Trevor Davis said: “People are booking their holidays much later this year and as a result we’re seeing the emergence of a very strong late bookings market for family groups.
"This means that there are thousands of family holidays being sold at much-reduced prices.
“For example, last year the average price paid for a family holiday to Paphos was £641 per person. This year, it is possible to find deals as low as £407.50 per person."
Interestingly, neither of the two biggest tour operators was prepared to state how much unsold capacity it had or whether it was offering deep discounts to shift distress stock.
Thomas Cook, which has a sale running until July 30, said only that it had been able to persuade hoteliers in popular euro holiday destinations such as Spain and Greece to cut their late prices and it was passing the savings on to customers.
Thomson said it was unable to disclose figures as its parent TUI Travel was about to announce its third quarter financial results.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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