Agents ride ‘crest of wave’ with bumper bookings

Travel agents are reporting a bumper turn-of-year booking period, with queues of customers and phones “ringing off the hook”.

Tony Mann, director of Idle Travel in Bradford, told a Travel Weekly webcast panel that he is riding on the “crest of a wave” thanks to media coverage over the past year or two advising consumers to book with agents.

“We’ve had so many new customers, I’m shocked,” he said.

“I’m getting them from all over…not just in Bradford; we are getting them throughout the country.”

He said 2022 was the agency’s best year ever “by far” and the period between Christmas and New Year was “really busy”.

“Yesterday morning, we did have queues [and] the phone was ringing off the hook,” he said.

 “It makes me chuckle and think ‘yeah, come on 2023, let’s have it’.”

Gemma Antrobus, owner of Haslemere Travel in Surrey, tweeted that the first day back after Christmas was “incredible” with new enquiries “flooding in”.

Incredible morning in the office on the first day back since Christmas. New enquiries flooding in for: Nepal, Mexico, Madeira, Multi-gen ski, Greece, Mauritius, Caribbean and Norway. It’s seems that holidays have been hot on everyone’s lips over the festive season ✈️

— Gemma Antrobus (@LuxuryTravelGem) December 28, 2022

The agency had a “really, really positive start to the year”, she told the webcast, with existing and new clients asking about a wide variety of destinations, and enquiries ranging from last-minute winter sun getaways to bucket-list and anniversary holidays.

She said that many clients were dropping into the shop who had never been to a travel agency before and were seeking advice.

“Not everyone travelled in 2022. There are people that are still only testing the water now, and they just want a little bit more handholding,” she said.

“They’ve heard about this elusive breed of travel agent that might be able to help them and the [mainstream] press have been incredible.”

Lisa Henning, managing director of Inspire Europe, said her homeworking team was seeing strong luxury sales, with bookings worth £50,000 or £60,000, thanks to money saved up during the pandemic.

She added: “We’re seeing a huge increase in cruise bookings at the moment, from people who have never cruised before.

“They’re not choosing the lower end of cruises. They’re quite happy to try the higher end luxury because they don’t have to worry about the cost of anything once they’re on [board].”

Antrobus agreed, saying she has also seen a rise in cruise business as clients know what they’re getting for their budget before they travel.

Also, many older clients want the personal touch with a face-to-face agency, rather than using the internet and apps, she added.

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