Post-Covid ‘bump’ may not last, warns Holidaysplease boss

The post-Covid ‘bump’ is still ‘winning’ against the impact of rising living costs in terms of holiday sales but that may not last,  according to Holidaysplease boss Charles Duncombe.

Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, Duncombe said the cost of living crisis still was not impacting travel sales despite hitting consumer spend in other areas.

“The post Covid bump is still winning against the cost of living squeeze. As the post-Covid bump goes away, will the cost of living squeeze then become the predominant thing people are thinking about? I think it will be a factor,” he admitted.

He predicted the older demographic of clients were likely to be more shielded from the impact of increases in food and energy bills and continue to spend on holidays.

He added: “It depends probably on sections of the market. There might be certain sections, maybe the retired end, who got their pensions triple-locked and loads of savings. They might be okay.”

Duncombe warned the industry not to “get too excited” about the current post-Covid sales bounce.

He said: “For the next sort of six to 12 months, while we shouldn’t get too downbeat about Covid, equally, I don’t think we should get too over-excited with the bubble that seems to be here at the moment.”

The homeworking and holiday franchise company is hoping for steady growth, with a return to pre-Covid turnover increases of 15% to 20% a year, he added.

“For us at the moment, it’s a question of building that stability. I think we’re looking to continue as we were, prior to Covid, where we’ve always been interested in strong, sustainable, steady growth,” he said.

The experience of the difficulties caused by the Covid pandemic also meant firms were ‘bulletproof’ and hardened to dealing with stressful situations, he said, adding: “Nothing keeps you awake at night now we’ve dealt with that.”