NEWS


OFF TO A TEA: A group of more than 60 travel agents and tour operators met up for a cuppa and a chat at Tipto’s 12th annual afternoon tea in the capital, held this year at L’oscar, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. Chairman Vishal Patel thanked agents for their support of the networking organisation and its events, and revealed plans for two trade events to be held on board Ambassador Cruise Line ships this year as well as two summer race days. Tipto has 26 roadshows planned up to July, plus three SuperShows. In total, 64% of attendees at Tipto roadshows from September to December 2025 were “new to Tipto” and 40% were homeworkers. Patel, director of Travelpack, said: “We’re incredibly excited about the year ahead.”


Deals drive peaks momentum amid hopes for payday uplift


Juliet Dennis


Highly competitive deals are stimulating mainstream summer bookings as the trade predicts a continued rise in sales following January paydays. Travel agents said the


Competition between high street


retailers has also intensified, with Hays Travel extending zero deposits with 10 suppliers until January 31. It has previously run similar zero deposit campaigns but not at this scale. Stephanie Slark, director of


third week of January had seen a strong uptick in trading on the prior week, after a slow start to the year, with customers responding to aggressive discount messages by the big-three suppliers. Tui has up to £500 off per booking


for departures from May 2026 and Jet2holidays has £100 off per person on holidays up to October 2027. At the end of last week, easyJet


holidays raised its headline summer offer by £100 to up to £500 off, based on a minimum £5,000 spend. Some retailers were waiting to see if


Jet2holidays would boost its incentives, after it briefly offered an extra £100 off per booking earlier this month.


travelweekly.co.uk STORY TOP


membership services at The Travel Network Group, said the promotions were driving up sales. “Pricing across the market is highly competitive, with operators pushing early-


booking incentives for 2026,” she said, adding: “No single provider is dominating on price, but customers are responding most where strong added-value offers are available.” Premier Travel managing director


Paul Waters agreed, saying: “Across all bookings, customers continue to show a strong focus on competitive pricing and overall value for money, regardless of whether at the lower or higher end of the budget range.” In reference to payday, Waters said the agency still had two of its


“historically busiest comparative weeks” to come. The agency’s busiest departure months remain May, June and September. July and August account for just 16% of sales, “well below shoulder-season levels”. Advantage Travel Partnership


commercial director John Sullivan also said May and September holidays were selling “particularly well”. He noted competitive prices


and large price disparities between suppliers and airports, but said customers continued to prioritise value over price, with average booking values up 6% on last year. “We continue to see momentum


build,” he added. “We expect this to continue to payday weekend.” Paul Hardwick, retail director


at Fred Olsen Travel, reported a “much stronger” week than the first week in January, with “very competitive” mainstream land prices. “We’re seeing good offers


across the big-three operators to stimulate bookings,” he said. Playing


down the need for zero deposits, he added: “It ultimately leads to more cancellations and rebookings. We’re also not seeing demand to provide low deposits at this stage.” Idle Travel director Tony Mann


said his agency may have lost “some bookings” to rivals offering zero deposits but stressed: “Lots of people were asking about them but when we spoke to them, most were not worried.” He predicted stronger sales


as customers get paid. “This weekend will be busy,” he added. Other retailers said they were


already enjoying bumper sales. Designer Travel took a record-


breaking £3 million last week, up 15% year on year. Managing director Amanda Matthews said: “We’ve stuck to competitive prices and amazing service as our model for peaks.” Oliver Broad, joint managing


director at RB Collection, said the agency was on course to surpass its January 2025 sales total by the end of this week.


22 JANUARY 2026 5

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