Holidays sector bounceback drives record performance at Travel Counsellors
Independent Manchester-based travel company, Travel Counsellors, continues to break records, with bumper figures for 2022 following the easing of travel restrictions.
The firm celebrated its best ever November, with UK sales up 66% on 2019 and 40% higher than the previous year, showing a great start to its 2023 fiscal year.
Leisure sales, in particular, show Brits are not giving up on holidays as sales are up by 75% on 2019 and 33% up on 2021.
This is reflected in the Travel Counsellors November customer survey that recorded 78% of customers strongly agree and agree that their holidays are so important they will still travel next year, with 79% either looking to book as normal, or even earlier than normal, to get the best deal.
Furthermore, winter travel sales are also rocketing with the company seeing its best December departure month, and sales for the 2023 winter period (November to April) already 25% up on 2019 final figures, at more than £170m so far.
Steve Byrne, Travel Counsellors CEO, said: “Over the last few weeks we have seen higher enquiry levels and value than ever before, as people look towards their 2023 travel and want to book earlier to lock in prices. They also want to book with someone they can trust and will be there to offer the best advice and tailor travel to suit them, as highlighted in our recent customer survey.
“This need for tailor made travel is reflected further in the trends we are seeing, with a strong return of the multi-centre, long-haul holiday and popular destinations including Thailand, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.”
He added: “We are, of course, cognisant of the current environment and are focused on continuing to support our Travel Counsellors and provide them with the most personal digital platform to enable them to build successful travel businesses, provide the very best service to their customers and celebrate more success in 2023.”
All markets in which Travel Counsellors operates are outperforming 2019, with corporate business sales also on the up by 73% versus pre-pandemic figures, with 2,141 bookings made last week alone.
Mat Hanson, chief financial officer, said: “Overall, we are tracking more than 50% up on 2023 departures versus 2022, even though 2022 has been a record year for us as a business, with over £800m in sales reached for the first time.
“These record-breaking results show we continue to build a solid foundation for growth, notwithstanding the current environment, and have accommodated the pent-up demand that we predicted earlier in 2022 and are now witnessing for the months ahead within the travel industry.”
