Despite the "challenging weather conditions" brought by Storm Isha, which uprooted trees, took down power lines and disrupted road and rail travel, clients’ enthusiasm to book with Barrhead was far from dampened, with the agency setting another new January sales record at the weekend.
Saturday (20 January) exceeded the group’s previous record-breaking days, set on Saturday 13 January and Saturday 6 January, so-called Sunshine Saturday. "Sunday (21 January) also played an important role in the group’s sales with particular success from social media and homeworking teams, who were able to remotely service clients impacted by adverse weather," said Barrhead.
Summer 2024 continues to be Barrhead’s top booking season, with clients opting for destinations such as Tenerife, Majorca, Barbados and Lanzarote. Cruising out of Southampton has also been in high demand.
Long-haul and bucket-list destinations such as Dubai, Canada and Orlando have also regularly featured in Barrhead’s top 10, the independent confirmed.
Dobson said adverse weather could be both a curse and a blessing for agents, particularly those with a significant high street presence.
"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," she said.
‘Real buzz’
Dobson continued: "However, what the weather this week has also brought is an increased desire from people to firm up the holiday plans they’ve been thinking about and escape the cold.
"Investing in a strong infrastructure that services our customers both in store and from the comfort of their own homes has meant our teams have been able to continue supporting the high volume of holiday enquiries.
"The weekend brought a rush of interest for summer bookings, as well as continued interest in last-minute escapes, which are still accounting for around 20% of the business."
Dobson added she expected the peaks rush to continue this weekend. "With payday on the horizon, we’re predicting a busy weekend with a real buzz across our network."
