The UK holidays specialist said it had seen a 57% rise in bookings for March during the last week of December, compared with the same period two years ago. There has also been an 11% increase in holidays departing in the first three months of 2022.
Simon Altham, group chief commercial officer at Hoseasons’ owner Awaze, said: “Christmas and new year are always great booking periods for us, but the clear difference this year is the increased demand for off-peak breaks, particularly between now and the end of March.
“Early bookers have always tended to favour the school holiday periods in previous years, and they’re continuing to sell well, but it’s the weeks and weekends in between where we’re seeing the real growth.”
Hoseasons launched its Relive the Good Times TV advert on Boxing Day, which will continue running until 16 January.
Yorkshire is currently Hoseasons’ most popular UK destination for first quarter bookings, while “pet-friendly” sales for 2022 across the brand’s portfolio have also risen by one-third compared with the same period two years ago.
Altham said the impact of the pandemic was part of the reason for this surge in booking for domestic holidays, with families keen to “get together” again, especially if their Christmas plans were disrupted by the spread of the Omicron variant.
“The virus hasn’t dented the great British public’s desire to get away, and that’s great news for our owners, partners in the trade, and anyone connected with the UK tourism economy,” he added.
