Following the UK government?s announcement of quarantine exempt destinations, Advantage Travel partnership has seen quite a growth in the bookings over the past week.
During July 6-12, sales were up 60% compared to the previous week. Out of the total passengers booking last week, 37% were for 2020 departures compared to 27% two weeks before. This shows that after a long period of being in lockdown, people have the desire to travel overseas this year.
Kelly Cookes, leisure director at Advantage Travel Partnership, said: ?Of the total sales made last week for departure dates in 2020, 39% of these were for the school summer holidays, showing travellers and particularly families are eager to get away sooner rather than later, even at such short notice. For 2021, the average sales value on all new bookings is ?810 per person, compared to ?548 per person for 2020 departures. This isn?t entirely unexpected as late bookings are often cheaper, however we have seen the prices for 2020 departures drop over the past two weeks (from ?626per person), which shows there is an effort from tour operators to stimulate the market.
Looking at weekend sales in isolation, this weekend was by far the best we have seen in recent months, with an increase of 226% this Saturday and Sunday (11/12) versus last weekend (4/5). In terms of destinations being booked, Spain is dominating, with seven out of the top ten volume driving regions being booked last week were in Spain.?
