Eliana Willis

Travel Counsellors reports that after the first week of February, bookings show no signs of slowing down, and are now at the same levels as 2019. 
January saw the company’s biggest booking month post-Covid-19 and was the second most successful month ever in its 27-year history, with new group bookings of over £71 million, beating the previous two months combined for both leisure and corporate travel.
Furthermore, the business reported that 320 of its Travel Counsellor business owners celebrate their best ever sales month too.
This comes as a recent customer survey by the independent company revealed over a quarter of all customers said they were planning to spend more on their holidays in 2022. 
This is reflected in the latest figures, which show overall spend per booking increased by 13 per cent in January. ADVERTISEMENTSome 80 per cent of those questioned said they would be more likely to book their 2022 holiday through a travel advisor rather than online and 64 per cent of respondents said the most important factor when considering travel plans is to book with someone they trust.
The company’s corporate travel sales are also showing a continued strong recovery, with nearly 90 per cent of UK Corporate bookings being for immediate travel in February and March, reflecting the growing demand in the small- and medium-sized space for a high touch, personalised travel service from clients.
Top selling destinations continue to be for the UK and USA.
Kirsten Hughes, managing director of Travel Counsellors, said: “We are now seeing a consistent recovery both in bookings and sales volumes for leisure and corporate travel.
“This is further reinforced by the growing demand from consumers for trusted travel advice and reassurance coming out of the pandemic, highlighted in the feedback from the survey.
“Additionally, customers are spending more, as many trade up their previous travel plans and look for premium end product with a premium service to match.”

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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has predicted the United States tourism sector will strongly rebound this year.
Barring further impact from Covid-19, the sector could make a $2 trillion GDP contribution, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 6.2 per cent.
News of the strong recovery follows steady gains in the sector during 2021 and signals the welcome comeback of one of the most important economic drivers after almost two years of upheaval.
“Our latest forecast shows the recovery significantly picking up this year as infection rates subside and travellers continue benefitting from the protection offered by the vaccine and boosters,” said Julia Simpson, WTTC chief executive.
“As travel restrictions ease and consumer confidence returns, we expect a welcome release of pent-up tourism demand. ADVERTISEMENT“That, together with what we hope will be a strong consumer-led economic recovery, creates a bullish outlook for the sector.”
The WTTC is also predicting employment in the sector could also surpass pre-pandemic levels, reaching nearly 16.8 million jobs, above pre-pandemic levels by 200,000 jobs.
“The good news is our outlook delivers a clear message: If the right conditions exist, the tourism sector can rebound to deliver economic and employment benefits we have not seen since before the pandemic,” said Simpson.
“We encourage global leaders to consider the economic and employment benefits of boosting consumer confidence by allowing fully vaccinated travellers to move freely.”

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New research from ForwardKeys reveals that flight bookings to and from the UK have soared following the announcement that Covid-19 testing would no longer be required for fully vaccinated travellers entering the UK.
The day after the announcement by UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, which was made on January 24th, combined inbound and outbound flight bookings jumped to 84 per cent of 2019 levels.
This was composed of a 106 per cent increase in outbound bookings, and a 47 per cent boost to inbound trips.
This news followed a series of relaxations in rules affecting travel to the UK, each triggering bookings spikes.
On January 5th, the UK said that from January 9th, fully-vaccinated travellers would be able to take a lateral flow instead of a PCR test on or before day two of their arrival in England. ADVERTISEMENTBenchmarked against pre-pandemic levels, the five destinations for which bookings recovered most strongly in January were Mexico (72 per cent up on 2019), the Maldives (54 per cent), Greece (22 per cent), Cyprus (20 per cent) and Barbados (16 per cent).
The typical seasonality patterns have returned and are evident in the recent recovery, with peaks showing for the forthcoming half-term break in February and the Easter holiday period, when looking at flight tickets confirmed in January.
In relative terms, the demand to travel abroad during the extended holiday weekend to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, in early June, is already 13 per cent ahead of 2019.

The destinations which are doing best for the upcoming half-term break are now all ahead of where they were at the end of January 2019.
In the lead is Mexico, which is followed by Pakistan, the Maldives, Barbados, Qatar, Bangladesh, the UAE and Portugal.
“The list is dominated by long haul destinations, which offer beach holidays or have a relatively strong market for visiting friends and relatives, such as Pakistan,” said Olivier Ponti, vice president of insights at ForwardKeys.
Bookings for Easter and summer holidays are relatively stronger than they are for the upcoming half-term break.
Benchmarked against the end of January 2019, half term bookings are 33 per cent behind, whereas Easter bookings are 29 per cent behind and summer is 16 per cent behind.
Compared to this time last year, when the UK was in a state of limited lockdown, bookings are, unsurprisingly, much healthier, 59 per cent ahead for Easter and 82 per cent ahead for summer.
The recent surge in outbound bookings has been closely followed by a modest revival in inbound demand.
“What I find particularly interesting is the continued dominance of classic sea and sun destinations,” said Ponti.
“A clear sign that the pandemic is still very much with us is the absence of a revival in city tourism or travel to airports strongly associated with skiing.
“However, if we see continental European countries relaxing their travel restrictions in the way the UK has just done, I expect to see a flood of holiday bookings that could exceed pre-pandemic levels, thanks to a release of the huge pent-up demand.”

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More than four times as many guests travelled with TUI in the first quarter of 2022 as in the same period last year, the company has revealed, as the travel rebound continues.
Revenue was five times higher than in the same period last year, with the travel giant taking in €2.37 billion.
However, TUI still recorded a net loss of €274 million for the first three months of the year, though this was an improvement on the losses of €676 million for the same period of 2021.
TUI chief executive, Fritz Joussen, said: “We expect a strong summer 2022.
“The path out of the pandemic is becoming increasingly clear. ADVERTISEMENT“Demand for travel is high across all markets.
“TUI has used the time to transform: we are leaner and more efficient today and are becoming more profitable than before the crisis.
“On this basis, we will push ahead with the repayment of the state aid granted and the focus on new growth.”
TUI said the framework conditions for tourism have improved significantly, with government measures becoming “more predictable and reliable”.
The lifting of comprehensive restrictions has begun or is foreseeable in some markets, the company said, with the United Kingdom and Denmark leading the way.

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Tourism Australia has confirmed the country will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from around the world on February 21st.
The decision builds on quarantine-free travel arrangements with Singapore, which came into effect in November, and for visitors from Japan and South Korea which were launched a month later. 
“The announcement today enabling fully vaccinated travellers from Britain to Australia quarantine-free from February 21st is a significant step in rebuilding international visitation from Australia’s international tourism markets across the globe,” Tourism Australia managing director, Phillipa Harrison, said.  
“Australia has long been a popular outbound destination for British travellers, with more than 700,000 visitors travelling to our country annually pre-Covid-19, and we are really excited that we will have the opportunity to welcome back visitors from the UK, one of our key international markets, as travel resumes.”
She added: “Throughout the pandemic Tourism Australia has maintained an active presence to keep Australia top of mind in the market. ADVERTISEMENT“Now, with the reopening of travel from Britain to Australia, Tourism Australia will be working with its trade and distribution partners on dedicated marketing campaigns to urge travellers to come and enjoy all the incredible tourism experiences that await them in Australia.” 
The Australian government has announced the country will reopen to all fully vaccinated visa holders, tourists, business travellers and other visitors from later this month.
Visa holders who are not fully vaccinated will still require a valid travel exemption to enter Australia, and will be subject to state and territory quarantine requirements.
Tourism Australia will be launching a new tourism campaign to welcome leisure travellers back to Australia in the coming weeks.
As part of this campaign, Tourism Australia will be working with a range of key distribution and airline partners to drive booking and drive recovery for Australia’s hard-hit tourism economy by providing tactical offers aimed at stimulating travel to Australia from the UK.
Image: Destination NSW

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