Thomson and First Choice celebrate online sales record
Sunday was Thomson and First Choice’s best day ever for online sales, with bookings up 26% on the previous peak.
Sharm el Sheikh, Majorca and Ibiza were the most popular short and mid-haul destinations booked online and the Caribbean coast of Mexico was the long-haul favourite.
Saturday was the busiest day of the year so far for Thomson and First Choice, with almost 1.2 million people visiting a Thomson shop or searching for a holiday online.
The company said its predictions for ‘Sunshine Saturday’ proved accurate as more than 36,000 people booked a holiday.
Thomson shops were busiest between 2pm and 3pm. Online, 5pm was the most popular time to book a holiday, with searches peaking at 8pm. Online bookings on Saturday were up 25%.
Thomson and First Choice websites saw a 130% increase in bookings via tablets and a 78% rise in mobile bookings compared to the same period last year.
In addition to TV advertising, Thomson and First Choice have launched a Thomson ‘Live’ press campaign with daily adverts featuring an image captured the previous day at one of Thomson’s properties. On Saturday, readers of national newspapers were given a glimpse of Sensatori Mexico together with an offer of up to £400 off per couple.
Thomson and First Choice predict that last weekend will be the busiest for 2014.
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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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