Carrier has also seen a surge in average booking values this year, and made history by logging its most expensive booking ever, at nearly £1 million.

Looking back on the first seven months of 2022, managing director Mark Duguid said: “We are well in excess of 2019 levels. We’ve consistently traded up and we are acquiring a good number of new travel agents and seeing increased loyalty from our existing travel agent base. It has been our most successful year ever.” 

Duguid said business has “rebounded incredibly strongly”, which he partially attributes to Carrier’s determination to “do the right thing” during the pandemic, by swiftly arranging refunds and supporting agents. 

“The pandemic actually presented an opportunity for us as a brand to really show our true colours,” he explained.

“Those two years weren’t without their challenges, but our attitude was always about servicing our agents and clients in the best way possible. The reputation we were able to garner is what’s now paying dividends for us.”

He also credited Carrier’s ability to facilitate travel for clients whenever it was possible during the pandemic, even when it brought logistical challenges. 

 “Whenever there were pockets where people could travel, we saw an immediate surge in demand from our client base, and we did manage to get a good number of clients away,” he said. “That really assisted me in planning how this year was going to look, and I knew that we would rebound quickly and strongly.”

When the government announced the traffic light system was being disbanded last September, Carrier’s aptly titled recovery plan was set in motion. 

“Essentially it was about resizing the business at pace to be able to cope with the increased demand that we expected to see this year,” Duguid explained. “So it meant that by December, I was essentially fully recruited. And by going early, it meant I was able to get the best people in the marketplace, and was operationally ready very early this year. We’re in a good place to capitalise on the rebound.”

The operator currently has an 80-strong team, and Duguid believes Carrier’s headcount reduction at the start of the pandemic “was probably one of the smallest within the industry in percentage terms”. 

“We’re a business about people, relationships, expertise. So I didn’t want to take short term benefits for long term pain. But I had to make sensible reductions at that time. So we did shrink, and then the recovery plan last year brought us back to full strength,” he said.

Price increases

The preparation paid off, as the operator’s average booking value for holidays booked between January to July 2022 is currently 20% up on the same period in 2019. “It’s a huge jump in price, and there are some weeks and months when it has been higher than that, and we’ve been selling a lot of Europe, which has brought the percentage down,” he said.

He added he felt prices had been driven up by the erosion of exchange rates and increases in cost base. “I do not blame suppliers for one second for yielding on their inventory. It is basic economics and supply and demand. But it has ultimately meant that a holiday is significantly more expensive compared to two years ago, for exactly the same quality hotel room and airline seat.” 

He believes the surge has also been driven by customers who “want to make the most after two years of not travelling, and are not afraid to spend”. 

Whereas pre-pandemic Carrier would receive a six-figure booking “every few weeks”, they are now arriving on a weekly basis. 

This year, the operator also took its highest value booking ever. While Duguid declines to give exact details, he reveals it was “just shy of £1 million”, by a repeat client via their travel agent, for a group booking departing later this year. 

In the first quarter of 2022, beach destinations performed well, including the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Europe. “Europe is by far the biggest winner [in 2022] as demand has been unstoppable,” Duguid added. Touring regions started to bounce back in the second quarter, with “incredibly strong” demand for North America and Africa. 

The surge in demand has also been felt in the private jet sector, with Duguid noting “demand is through the roof”, citing a day in mid July where there wasn’t an available private jet anywhere in the world. “It was just physically impossible to find one,” he said. 

Championing agents

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, in July the operator held a summer party for agent partners at Bafta’s headquarters in London. 

At the event, Carrier announced the winners of its agent and travel designer awards. Alongside regional awards, Travel Wise was named Agent of the Year UK, while Different Planet Travel won Luxury Travel Designer of the Year UK. 360 Private Travel was awarded Luxury Agency Group of the Year and the Managing Director’s Award went to Bryan Somers Travel. 

Duguid has high praise for Carrier’s agent partners, and is vocal about their importance to the operator’s success. “We have had some exceptional performances among agent partners, and it was an opportunity to shine a light on some of those. It was great to get everyone together, and it felt really special,” he said.