Though it is only the 7th day of the new year, 2023, travel agents have already reported an optimistic start to the year with this peaks season taking off with a boom of travel bookings from UK travellers.
According to reports from many UK travel agents this week, the sales on travel bookings have skyrocketed from the past couple of years during the Covid pandemic, and even topped 2019 levels of bookings. Despite the cost-of-living crisis, the demand for travel in 2023 is incredibly exciting and consumers have been reported as spending significantly more on average for their travel bookings regardless of tight funds around the world.
Many travel agents stated that the industry had continued to exceed expectations recently, as bookings between Christmas and New Years were positive, plentiful, and causing a lot of encouragement throughout the sector. Despite tight budgets and many consumers making cuts, travellers were still determined to have their holiday.
Many businesses credited the boost in travel bookings in part to some fantastic marketing activity and effort put in by the hopeful businesses. Mass-market sales saw a big lift as consumers seemed to prioritise booking their holiday while simply budgeting against the cost-of-living crisis, they did this by switching their departure date, destination, or the duration of their holiday.
Some industry workers were greatly concerned about the strikes by Border Force staff at the major UK airport but were pleasantly surprised to see things running smoothly. Travel agents and airline staff were worried that the strikes would cause build ups as staff were unable to process travellers swiftly or smoothly and flights would be delayed, but this was not the case despite the drastic view from the media that claimed the strikes would cause ‘havoc’.
A source from an airline stated that the government and airport contingency plans “worked brilliantly”, and said, “There was isolated queueing, but we got through successfully.”
Mark Serwotka, the union leader for PCS, said, “The industry is caught in the crossfire. The contingency plans can’t become the norm,” and warned the industry that there would be “a huge escalation in January”, but things are still looking optimistic for travel in 2023 at present.
So, if you’d like to learn more about how your consumers’ monies are protected with Protected Trust Services (PTS) and how we support excellent travel businesses, check out our pages. Or you can get in touch with the lovely PTS team by calling 0207 190 9988 or emailing us at ask@protectedtrustservices.com.
