Speaking at the Jet2holidays VIP conference in Belek, Antalya, on Tuesday (28 November), general manager trade Lloyd Cross revealed some of the key trends that have over the past year driven average selling prices up from £842pp to £942pp.
These include more four and five-star sales, which now comprise 60% of Jet2’s trade bookings, up from 57% last year. Longer stays are another focus; while seven nights remains typical, Cross said there had been a "big increase" in demand for eight to 13-night breaks.
Family bookings, meanwhile, now account for 43.2% of Jet2holidays sales through the trade, up 2% year-on-year from 41.2% last year.
The Canaries remains Jet2’s biggest destination, with mainland Spain – "particularly Salou and Girona" – seeing "significant growth", along with Turkey and Greece.
Cross said while lates – departures zero to nine weeks after booking – had slowed a little, they still accounted for three in 10 of Jet2’s trade bookings, down from a third, and weren’t to be sniffed at.
"It shows agents are fantastic at selling further out," said Cross. "But again, there is also huge opportunity for lates – protecting that critical cash flow," he added with a nod to peaks.
Trade currently represents just under a quarter (24%) of Jet2’s total business mix, with non-retail – homeworkers and call centres – accounting for an increasingly significant 22.8% share of that 24%.
This year to date, Cross revealed agents had booked more than 1.5 million Jet2 passengers worth nearly £1.5 billion in growth sales – 8.1% growth year-on-year on what Cross described as "already significant volumes". "This means we’ve paid out nearly £200 million in commission this year," he continued.
"It shows how important trade is to Jet2holidays. Our commitment to the trade will not change. There is no limit on what the trade mix can be. It’s an endless amount of stock for agents to keep promoting and selling each year."
Cross also took time to highlight the benefit to agents of promoting the Jet2 brand prominently at their agencies or in their marketing, revealing that agencies with permanent Jet2 branding performed 8% better for passengers year-on-year this year compared with non-Jet2 branded agencies. In February, the disparity was more than 15%, he added.
"It’s all about the brand," said Cross. "It’s the biggest way to impact sales and get more customers into businesses."
Cross said Jet2 had invested more than £2.5 million in trade marketing this year, everything from window decals and dual-branded shop signs to B2C marketing campaigns. "We’re even working on dual-branded uniforms with 144 shops," he told delegates.
