NEWS
Agents such as Gemma Antrobus say they are ‘trying to manage people’s expectations’ regarding availability and pricing for this summer
Agents urge clients to be flexible as peak summer capacity tightens
Juliet Dennis
Travel agents are having to issue stark warnings to clients to manage expectations as summer availability becomes “a major issue”. The trade has continued to report
strong late sales, with many agents hailing May as a bumper booking month. But finding holidays
to match clients’ requests has become increasingly challenging, according to agents, exacerbated by slow turnaround times for quotes from some suppliers and high consumer expectations. The tight summer availability
showed summer availability was now “increasingly limited”. Leisure director Kelly Cookes
STORY TOP
said: “We are seeing that customers are still indecisive about whether to take a summer holiday this year and it’s not been helped by stories surrounding passport delays and airport queues. The problem is if they don’t book now they may not find what they want at a price they want to pay.” Spear Travels chairman
Peter Cookson said held-over
bookings were to blame. “Supply is a fairly major issue
because of the backlog from 2020 and 2021,” he said. “[But] customers don’t believe
has led agents to warn clients to book now and be flexible about their holiday needs and budgets. Advantage Travel Partnership
said it was telling holidaymakers they risked missing out on a holiday this summer, after its latest research
travelweekly.co.uk
us when we say there won’t be any late deals this summer and still have unrealistic budgets at times.” Spear’s May sales were 6% ahead
of May 2019, with Cookson hopeful 2023 would be “more normal”. Haslemere Travel managing
director Gemma Antrobus has urged her clients to be as flexible as possible but said many had particular wishes despite leaving it later than normal to book. “I’m trying to manage people’s
expectations,” she said. “My favourite saying now is that if you are looking to go away this summer you are late to the party unless you are super-flexible.” Tivoli Travel director Jo Richards
said consumers would have to adapt their demands. “People are just going to have to compromise because there is less availability,” she said. Deben Travel owner Lee Hunt
said sourcing family accommodation was particularly tricky, with bookings lost as a result. His agency’s May sales were more than 40% up on 2019. “The challenge is finding the
right availability. Lots of families are looking for interconnecting rooms. We have also tried going to hotels directly to get rooms. It’s leading people to Airbnb or online retailers.”
An additional problem has been
the turnaround time from some operators, particularly on complex quotes. “We’ve had operators which have taken two or three weeks to get back to us,” he said. Spear Travels said it had lost
bookings because clients were “fed up waiting for quotes”. Cookson said: “We get the blame but the whole of the UK is short of staff in every sector. It is incredibly frustrating.” Premier Travel director Paul
Waters agreed timing was an issue. “What we are seeing is more
bookings being confirmed with suppliers that historically would not have been preferred. It’s been more about who can service our clients’ quotes the quickest so we don’t lose bookings and so we can get what clients want,” he said. Premier’s sales this month topped
May 2019. The first three weeks enjoyed double-digit sales rises, the third week 28% up on three years ago.
2 JUNE 2022 5
PICTURE: Shutterstock/TravnikovStudio
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
