Last minute sales are at a high level in the UK. The last minute sales in the UK have been at a high level recently, following the large discounts and attractive offers, which the country’s largest travel agencies and tour operators have made, with Greece ‘starring’ for yet another tourist season, offering ‘affordable prices’.
Free child seats for July and August are among the unusual offers driving last-minute sales, according to representatives of the UK travel market.
Overdue transactions accounted for almost 70% of Seaside Travel’s sales last week, with fantastic deals such as seven nights in Greece costing between £280 and £300 in July, according to the travel agency’s head of operations and marketing, Paula Gleeson.
‘We expect prices to remain very competitive,’ she said, adding: “Jet2holidays has “loaded up” with thousands of extra free child seats on flights for July and August. I wouldn’t be surprised if other travel agents follow suit – if they haven’t already.”
In the same vein, Buckley Travel owner Jacqui Bowring said that bookings in recent days have been ‘absolutely stunning’, with June sales up 15% compared to the same month last year. She added that her only concern was that if prices fell further, this could make prices at the peak of the season look less attractive.
A different view was expressed by Admiral Travel director Craig Weatherill, arguing that Jet2holidays’ price cuts and free child seats, particularly for August, could indicate ‘a lot of stock left for sale’.
Stephanie Slark, director of member services at The Travel Network Group, agreed with this view, pointing out that ‘the increase in discounts in the last week was due to the management of availability by tour operators’.
‘Confidence is there, but it is more restrained and price sensitive than in previous peak periods,’ she said, adding: ‘Continued competition means we are likely to see attractive deals in the short term.’
Fred Olsen Travel’s retail director Paul Hardwick warned that ‘discounts are, already, squeezing the average booking value and urged tour operators to keep it up to avoid overpricing’.”
‘We are starting to see some holiday and cruise packages with big discounts on the market, which then negatively impact our average booking price, which last week alone was £800 lower than usual,’ he pointed out, adding that ‘more than half of the current searches were for the peak summer period’. Of course, he agreed that in recent days the market is proving really strong.
Overdue sales rose from 40% to 42% of Advantage Travel Partnership’s sales last week, with July and September being the best months for travel. Average booking prices fell slightly but still outperformed last year, with sales up 13% and average booking prices up 6%, according to the company’s commercial director, John Sullivan. ‘Demand may be more limited as we get into the school holiday season,’ he predicted.
Joanne Pearson, of Southampton Cruise Concierge, said that cruise lines were moving to discounts later and even extending offers to ancillary services such as drinks packages, which she described as ‘unusual’.
A Jet2holidays spokesman said the tour operator was ‘working hard to ensure that travel agents could take advantage of the high demand for short, last-minute trips’.
