The company said it made a “modest five figure” profit in August as bookings and departures increased to key destinations.
Holidaysplease director Charles Duncombe said “I was a little surprised when our in-house accountant gave me the figures. I did ask her whether she had simply run out of red ink.
“We spent a huge amount of money during Covid to maintain our brand and customer goodwill. We didn’t make anyone redundant and, in fact, we took on people.
“We see this extra cost as a sensible investment, as we now have more than £30 million of forward business booked, which is double where we’d expect to be in a normal year.”
Duncombe added that sales in September had “marginally” exceeded 2019 levels, with October sales running "well ahead" of October 2019 bookings.
Fellow director Richard Dixon added: “It’s a nice surprise really. We’ve been going in the right direction for a good amount of time sales-wise, but that doesn’t turn into profit until people start to depart. We’ve had departures through the summer into the autumn.
“We’re not getting that carried away and we still expect a few bumps along the way. We’re pretty confident the vast majority of our forward bookings are going to be able to travel.
“Our sales have been going through the roof and the momentum for new bookings in October has been fantastic. We’ve got some departures for this year but mainly for 2022. There’s a lot of pent-up demand and it’s looking really healthy for 2022.”
Holidaysplease has recently announced that it is still looking to recruit more homeworkers to help meet current demand.
The company has said it is even willing to “borrow” staff from other travel agencies who are facing a “slow” winter – these employees can then rejoin their original agency when business picks up.
