Juliet Dennis


Agents buoyed by late-sales upturn 60%


Agents this week reported a steady rise in late sales to boost cashflow over the coming months. The increase in 2021 bookings is


“encouraging”, they say, but not yet enough to see businesses through the quieter winter. The Advantage Travel Partnership


said the scales tipped in favour of last-minute sales last week, with 60% of bookings for 2021, and Spain and Greece its top-sellers. “We are seeing a lot of late


demand,” said leisure director Kelly Cookes as she revealed 32% of 2021 sales last week were for September. Miles Morgan Travel chairman


Miles Morgan said a “big percentage” of bookings last week were for 2021,


which he called “proper money” compared with bookings for 2022. He said the upturn was “huge for


us” but cautioned that a continued rise in late sales depended on next week’s traffic light lists update. Travel Counsellors chief executive


Steve Byrne agreed: “There is a direct correlation between a government announcement and demand for that destination.” Bookings for the rest of this


year and next were “starting to pick up solidly”, said Byrne, adding that enquiry levels for Dubai had increased by 400% following the last traffic light update. Travel Counsellors’ leisure travel


booking volumes have now reached 75%-80% of pre-pandemic levels. Byrne added: “You have more


Industry calls for urgent review of UK testing regime


Juliet Dennis


The trade says the government’s testing regime for overseas travel “urgently needs to be reviewed”. Agents say cost, “hassle factor” and


quarantine concerns about Covid tests, particularly in resort before return to the UK, continue to be the main reasons clients won’t travel overseas. Advantage Travel Partnership


leisure director Kelly Cookes called for an immediate appraisal of testing by the government ahead its review of restrictions on October 1. She said: “These [factors] are the


4 9 SEPTEMBER 2021


biggest barrier. The whole process around testing urgently needs to be reviewed.” The plea comes as the


Competition and Markets Authority investigates one of the UK’s largest PCR test providers, Expert Medicals, and warned a further 19 companies to improve their pricing information amid concerns tests are being advertised at costs that are not available or include hidden conditions. Spear Travels chairman Peter


Cookson said testing was already causing “huge” problems for clients.


He cited an example of an elderly


client refused boarding because she took her 72-hour lateral flow test in resort one hour too early after miscalculating the time difference. “It cost her £700 for a new test


and a new flight,” he said. Polka Dot Travel director Mark


Johnson stressed: “It’s unnecessary. The whole system, as opposed to the costs, is putting people off booking.” The decision by other countries


in Europe to allow double-jabbed holidaymakers to travel without tests has further angered agents. Miles Morgan Travel chairman


Share of Advantage members’ bookings last week for 2021 travel


people travelling now and sharing their stories. People see you can travel and come back safely with great memories. The general momentum now for everyone is improving quite significantly.” Some agents said current sales


levels were the best since the start of the pandemic, with some near or topping pre-Covid volumes. Travel Designers managing


director Nick Harding-McKay said:


“Last week, we were ahead of the targets we set pre-Covid for the first time since the start of the pandemic.” Deben Travel reported August as


its “best sales month since the start of the pandemic, even up on August 2019”. But owner Lee Hunt said the agency was not seeing a late-bookings surge and described the next six months as “critical”. The Travel Network Group said


members were “definitely busier”, with a mix of enquiries for this year and 2022-23. Spear Travels finished August


with sales at 44% of 2018 levels. Sales so far for September were 65% of where they were at this point in 2018, said chairman Peter Cookson, with a mix of bookings, mostly for 2022 and 2023 rather than 2021.


The CMA


is investigating one of the UK’s largest PCR test providers


Miles Morgan said: “As a country we are singling ourselves out.” But agents stressed the complexity


of testing was an opportunity for the trade. Travel Counsellors chief executive Steve Byrne said: “A good, experienced agent can play a hugely important role in taking that worry away from the customer and, when they do that, customers will validate the service they’ve received.” Confusion over tests is also driving


consumers into agencies to seek help. Cookes said: “We are supporting


agents on how they can retain these newly-acquired customers.”


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURE: Shutterstock/Giovanni Cancemi

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