Agents temper demand with caution Juliet Dennis
Travel agents remain upbeat about forward sales but are urging caution among clients until there is more certainty on travel dates. Retailers have enjoyed significant
increases in calls and sales since last week’s government roadmap. The UK’s largest agency, Hays
Travel, drafted in 200 extra staff to deal with a 347% rise in enquiries. Demand appears to have pushed
prices up, with owner Irene Hays reporting that the price of an average family holiday had risen by £214. But a YouGov poll of 5,000 UK
adults on February 25 – three days after the roadmap announcement – suggested the reported hike in
interest had yet to translate into bookings. It found no increase in the proportion of UK adults who had booked an overseas holiday in the prior fortnight, but did find more had booked UK breaks. Agents said they were cautious
about telling clients overseas travel would restart on May 17, echoing comments by deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam on Monday that there remained “great uncertainty” about overseas summer holidays. Miles Morgan Travel had its best
week since March 2020 last week but is advising clients to book autumn departures rather than summer until there is clarity on testing. “There are more unknowns than knowns about
Byrne credits PM’s roadmap for lifting client confidence
Lucy Huxley
Customers are more confident booking higher-value holidays for later in the year as uncertainty remains about travel’s restart, says Travel Counsellors’ chief executive. Speaking on a Travel Weekly
webcast last week, Steve Byrne reported an initial spike in demand focused on July, August and September, with duration and party size increasing the further out customers booked. He said consumers’ appetite
to book was “pushed back” by the second national lockdown
6 4 MARCH 2021
from early January but noted a “direct relationship” between the government’s more positive recent tone and customer confidence. Byrne said: “If you look at what was
going on pre-Christmas, compared to what’s happened post-Christmas, a much smaller number of people were prepared to book for this summer and an increasing proportion booked for later on in the year or next year.” He believes the government has
“bought itself some time” to see how the vaccination programme rollout goes, look at the health data and work on a form of travel pass based on “either vaccination or testing”.
I’m cautiously
optimistic but we don’t want to have to cancel and refund bookings again
summer,” said chairman Miles Morgan. Mark Johnson, director of Polka
Dot Travel, which has brought staff off furlough to handle increased calls and cancellations up to May 16, said: “I’m cautiously optimistic but we don’t want to have to cancel and refund again. We’re saying to clients [May 17] might be too early to book. The majority of business is from mid- July. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Derek Moore, deputy chairman
of The Specialist Travel Association (Aito), said operators’ flexibility on cancellations was encouraging sales. “Operators are upbeat,” he added. Henbury Travel is not taking
bookings for trips departing before June 15. Owner Richard Slater said: “If holidays get cancelled, it’s my reputation on the line.” Deben Travel owner Lee Hunt
said clients were “holding off” once it was explained there was no detail yet on travel requirements. Jo Richards, owner of Tivoli Travel, said she was considering asking clients to sign an “explainer” form to show they understood destinations’ requirements
to avert a “backlash down the line”. i Get Social, page 17
Steve Byrne
He said destinations that people
“know, love and have been to before”, such as Greece, Turkey, Spain and Cyprus, were proving popular. But he added: “We have to see
how individual countries respond [in relation to allowing UK visitors] when the government makes its announcements on that front.” Reporting leisure sales running
at about 75% of last year’s level on February 22, Byrne described the timescales outlined by the PM in his roadmap that day as “positive” and said Travel Counsellors saw an “encouraging” boost in business
Lucy Huxley
afterwards. However, he pointed out Travel Counsellors agents had to work not only on new business but also rebookings and cancellations. He said new business accounted
for “probably a bit more than we would have expected” and suggested it was down to customers having “solid advice”, flexible booking terms and knowing their money was financially protected.
Watch the interview with Steve Byrne at:
go.travelweekly.co.uk/webcasts
travelweekly.co.uk
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