Healey told TTG that the market, especially that of hotels, is currently saturated by Europeans, forcing UK tourists to book in advance to get a spot at their favourite venue.
“Consumers come into the marketplace and say ‘I really want to go to this hotel at this time of year’, but it’s not available,” the chief executive said. “The hotel [market] is very heavily sold even though Russians are a third of what they would normally be.”
Healey’s words were echoed by managing director Yvonne Leslie, who said agents are currently “very, very busy” with reservations for 2024, instead of this summer. Booking value has also gone up on average, due to “higher prices, higher fuel, higher taxes.”
According to Leslie, who set up the business alongside Healey in 1993, people are preferring luxury European holidays instead of long-haul journeys.
“High-end European destinations are very popular,” she told TTG. “Obviously the popular hotels are sold out and [prices] will go up even more next year.”
The remarks partially reflect recent TikTok data, which reports that cities such as Paris, Amsterdam and Venice are among the most searched by Brits.
The data – shared with TTG earlier this month – nevertheless showed that European capitals such as Rome, Dublin and Prague are no longer faring so well in the UK market, as they were booted out of the top 10 list in favour of longer-haul destinations such as New York and Dubai.
