Part of Dnata’s Gold Medal, the luxury operator said the success was experienced thanks to intensive promotions with agents during peaks, resulting in the “record-breaking week” of January 8-14, when business overall was up by around 10% year-on-year.

The Caribbean in particular was said to be a big contributor to the sales boost, with bookings to the region up by more than 100% year-on-year, seeing it become the operator’s top-performing destination overall; the top three countries booked were Antigua, Barbados and Mexico.

Lisa McAuley, managing director of Dnata Travel B2B Europe, said: “It is incredibly reassuring to see figures showing the Caribbean is back on its feet following the unwelcome visits from hurricanes Irma and Maria last autumn.”

Bookings for Africa were up by 38%, and to Oceania (Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific) by 36%, year on year; among stand-out performers were South Island, New Zealand with a 138% increase across both Pure Luxury and Gold Medal.

“Pure Luxury continues to go from strength to strength for the business and having a record-breaking week under our belt already this year is no small feat. As always, none of our success would be possible without the ongoing support of the trade,” McAuley added. “We’re thrilled our new sales brochures and incentive opportunities captured the imagination of agents to ensure such a promising start to the year.”

Pure Luxury’s peaks promotions continue to run until the end of February, combining increased Farebank Rewards, four sales brochures and magazines, and offers of fam trip places to the US and Thailand.