Agents and operators are reporting strong Peaks sales, with expectations the weekend ahead will be even busier.
Barrhead Travel said last Saturday, 20 January, trumped the group’s previous record-breaking days of Saturday 13 and Sunshine Saturday 6 January.
Summer 2024 remains the top booking season for Barrhead customers, with Tenerife, Majorca, Barbados, Lanzarote, and cruising from Southampton the most popular. Dubai, Canada and Orlando have also regularly featured in the top 10.
President Jacqueline Dobson said: “Adverse weather conditions can be both a curse and a blessing. At the beginning of the week, we noticed footfall was a little slower on some high streets because of the severe ice and clients were opting to stay at home.
“However, what the weather this week has also brought is an increased desire from people to firm up the holiday plans that they’ve been thinking about and escape the cold.
“With payday on the horizon, we’re predicting a busy weekend with a real buzz across our network.”
EasyJet said flights to Amsterdam, Paris, Alicante and Malaga have proved to be the most popular this January. Skiathos, Calabria in Italy and Rovaniemi in Lapland have seen the greatest rise in popularity compared to 2023.
Central European destinations Zadar in Croatia and Tivat in Montenegro have also seen a boost in popularity for 2024, while Brits have been booking flights to French destinations like Rennes and La Rochelle in greater numbers, easyJet said.
EasyJet holidays has seen a boost in bookings for May, June and July, with Spain accounting for over a quarter of all summer 2024 beach sales. The Algarve, Crete, Rhodes, Turkey and Tunisia are also selling well.
Families have made up over a third of easyJet holidays beach bookings, while over 70% of sales were for four- or five-star properties. All-inclusive remains the most popular, with over 60% of beach bookers opting for this board basis.
Not in the Guidebooks Sales Director Debbie Sowden said its Race around the World Peaks campaign has paid off.
She said: “Since the turn of the year enquiries have doubled versus this time last year and trading has been really buoyant.
“Lapland is proving popular for 2024 and 2025 and destinations such as Costa Rica and Maldives selling well for summer ‘24. We have some exceptional offers across many of the destinations we feature, which is driving a great deal of interest from agents.
“Agents are telling us that our proposition, which is all about offering authentic, immersive and sustainable travel experiences, is having more traction with consumers than ever before.
“What’s been interesting to see over the last four years since we launched, is the steady rise in consumer interest in wanting to experience a different type of holiday to the usual beach-based getaway, and agents are now keen to broaden their proposition to incorporate experience-led itineraries,” she added.
Latest figures from Pure Luxury show Thailand is up 20% in terms of room nights, compared to the previous Peaks period, with sales to Koh Samui more than doubling year-on-year. Twin and multi centre bookings to Thailand are also up.
Maldives and Mauritius make Pure Luxury’s top three.