Travel Counsellors reports that after the first week of February, bookings show no signs of slowing down, now at the same levels as 2019.
January saw the company’s biggest booking month post-COVID and second ever most successful month in its 27-year history, with new group bookings of over £71.2m, beating the previous two months combined for both leisure and corporate travel. Furthermore, the business reported that 320 of its Travel Counsellor business owners celebrate their best ever sales month too.
This comes as a recent customer survey by the independent company revealed over a quarter of all customers said they were planning to spend more on their holidays in 2022. This is reflected in the latest figures, which show overall spend per booking increased by 13% in January.
Some 80 percent of those questioned said they would be more likely to book their 2022 holiday through a travel advisor rather than online and 64 percent of respondents said the most important factor when considering travel plans is to book with someone they trust. This insight is supported by month-on-month sales increases by the company’s Travel Counsellor business owners, who deliver bespoke and high personalised corporate and leisure travel services to their clients and customers, with 1,400 franchisees now operating across the UK.
The company’s corporate travel sales are also showing a continued strong recovery, with nearly 90 percent of UK Corporate bookings being for immediate travel in February and March, reflecting the growing demand in the SME space for a high touch, personalised travel service from clients. Top selling destinations continue to be for the UK and USA.
Kirsten Hughes, managing director of Travel Counsellors said: “We are now seeing a consistent recovery both in bookings and sales volumes for leisure and corporate travel. This is further reinforced by the growing demand from consumers for trusted travel advice and reassurance coming out of the pandemic, highlighted in the feedback from the survey.
“Additionally, customers are spending more, as many trade up their previous travel plans and look for premium end product with a premium service to match.” Over 20 percent of bookings are for travel in the next two months with Spain, UAE and USA being the most popular destinations.
Spain is also the top selling destination for Easter travel despite more complex entry requirements, closely followed by the USA. There has also been strong demand for haul travel destinations such as the Indian Ocean, Middle East and the Caribbean with bookings being more than 50 percent higher than at the same time pre-pandemic.
Hughes continues; “It’s been brilliant to see our Travel Counsellors, who have been working so hard to look after their customers during the pandemic, doing what they do best and enjoying the rewards for the care and resilience they have consistently shown to their customers. We expect this trend to continue, as customers seek a truly personalised service from someone they can trust and will be there for them every step of the way.”
