Five travel sales trends that are defining trading right now

Prices are going up, and those clients that are booking are typically spending more, albeit while searching far and wide for the best possible value. In October, nearly one in five agents (18%) said their average sales price per person was up to £1,000. This fell for the fourth consecutive month to 14% in November (October – 18%; September – 25%; and August – 30%). It means more people are paying a higher price per head at this time. The number of agents who said their average sales price in November was between £1,001 and £2,000 was 55%, up from 48% in October and September, and 43% in August. "It seems the middle market is the area most affected by cost squeezes," said one respondent.

Agents are discounting less and less, possibly due to constraints on capacity and availability. Just 7% of respondents said they discounted more in November than they did in October. This is down by 11% when you compare the same measurement from September going into October. At the same time, 43% said they discounted less in November than they did in October, up by 10% when comparing September and October. More than four in five respondents (82%) said they either didn't discount at all in November (34%) or did so by between 1-5% (48%). Only just over one in 10 respondents (11%) said they discounted more in monetary terms in November than they did in frequency terms.

Agents are continuing to find it difficult to get hold of suppliers in a timely fashion, with nearly half (46%) of respondents ranking "getting hold of suppliers" as one of the three biggest issues facing their businesses right now. Converting new enquiries, meanwhile, rose to third in the list, with 30% of agents flagging it. This is the fourth consecutive month-on-month increase for this issue (October – 25%; September – 20%; August – 18%). Several respondents said the issues went hand in hand. "It's tough not being able to talk to suppliers," said one respondent. Another added: "Enquiries and costings from tour operators are taking days."

With all that said, 43% of respondents said November was a better month than October, up from 41% who said October was a better month than November. Also, more than half of respondents (52%) said they were feeling either very (16%, up 8% month-on-month) or quite (36%, up 6% month-on-month) optimistic about the coming months, while 39% said they felt 50:50. Less than 10% said they either felt not very optimistic (7%) or not optimistic at all (2%) about the months ahead. "On the whole, very positive," said one agent. "I will then hit the ground running afterwards [post-Christmas] in January." Another said: "Clients are conscious of the cost of living crisis, but also have a ‘sod it’ attitude, and want to book to have something to look forward to."