Speaking as part of a panel discussion at The Global Travel Conference, moderated by TTG editor Sophie Griffiths, Steve Cartwright, owner of Cardiff-based Cartwright Travel, said forward bookings had reached some of the strongest levels he had seen, with the agency noting a significant number for 2018 and 2019, predominantly for cruise.
“The fact that people are booking early is fantastic,” Cartwright said. He added that he expected a slump in sales in the run-up to the election and shortly after, but said the industry was used to dealing with uncertainty.
Cartwright was joined on stage by Leighann Morgan, owner of Opulent Travel Services in Shrewsbury and Tiffany Woodley, director of Myriad Travel in Liverpool, who added that early bookings were also proving beneficial for her clients as they enabled them to budget more carefully – and ultimately spend more on their breaks.
“Clients who book in advance often have more money to play with, as they’ve saved for longer. It’s also easy for an agent to upsell as the client has more time to pay it all off,” Woodley said.
She also predicted that the UK’s current political and economic instability would “drive people back to the high street”.
Discouraging younger people from booking online and enticing them back into agencies was another key focus for all three agents.
Cartwright said: “The younger generation don’t have mortgages as they’re still living at home, and they have copious amounts of money. It’s important for us to tap into that market.”
He urged agents to use social media to appeal to millennials, adding that his agency had achieved considerable success with Instagram. “Young people are seeing our Instagram posts and booking, then telling their friends about it,” he said.
Morgan agreed, adding that Instagram and even Snapchat had proved beneficial to her business in attracting a new and younger demographic.
Woodley added: “It’s important to start a conversation with younger people, and also to let students know that they can pay their holidays off over time.”
Morgan, who opened her own high street store in March, said high street agents remained popular due to their focus on customer service.
Meanwhile, all three panellists agreed that the recent collapse of companies such as All Leisure Holidays Group (ALG) and the Lowcosttravelgroup had encouraged people back to agents.
