The company, which includes Your Co-op high street agencies and tour operator brand Co-op Holidays, reported an overall 38% uptick in sales for February to April this year compared to the same period in 2019, and a 39% increase on 2018.
Within the group, The Personal Travel Agents reported similar success with sales between February and April 2022 up 38% on 2019, making Q1 2022 the homeworking business’s best-performing quarter to date. It also hit another new milestone, with 21% of bookings in the period generated by referrals, up from 15% in 2019.
Homeworkers are earning more now than they did pre-pandemic too, with average earnings 11% higher, according to The Personal Travel Agents, which currently has more than 160 affiliated agents across the UK.
There has also been a change in consumer trends post-pandemic, according to the travel group, with customers opting for bigger trips and higher-value bookings.
Average booking values have increased by 36% compared with 2019. Destinations that have been slow to drop travel restrictions, such as Spain, have reduced in popularity with holidaymakers, while Greece has increased its share of bookings from 8% in 2019 to 11% in 2022.
The Midcounties Co-operative noted the Maldives, South Africa and Montenegro have all seen significant growth in bookings, and staycations remain favourable, with UK sales accounting for 5% of bookings in Q1 2019 compared to 7.5% in 2022.
Head of The Personal Travel Agents, Sheena Whittle, said: “I’m delighted for our agents, who lived and worked through such a difficult time, and deserve all the success they are now seeing. We knew the light at the end of the tunnel would come, but to see sales beating 2019 already is truly outstanding and testament to the months of hard work that the agents have put in.”
She added: “The personal and expert service agents provide is more in demand than ever as the industry rebuilds, and this is why bookings from customer referrals are going through the roof. Clients want the reassurance of an expert who is there for them as they take their first holiday in a changed world.”
