The company launched its Big Blue Sale on Monday (2 January) with more than 300 of its itineraries discounted until 18 January.

Europe trips proved most popular, with Italy and Portugal the most-booked destinations, while longer-haul choices also saw strong demand as a 14-night safari tour to Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe was the most-booked trip of the day.

“We knew there was real appetite for adventure holidays in 2023, and had seen increased enquiries and web traffic towards the end of last year but this has really blown us away,” said Explore’s managing director Michael Edwards.

“It’s fantastic to see the return of long-haul destinations, with a real mix of destinations being booked in big numbers. We’re so excited for a fantastic year of once-in-a-lifetime adventures.”

The surge in sales followed a 50% increase in Explore’s trade bookings at the end of 2022, with agency sales manager Philippa Baines adding: “We were already so excited to get stuck into 2023, with some really exciting plans and growth ambitions for our agency sales this year, so to start it with such an incredible response to our Big Blue Sale has been amazing.”