A number of agents have experienced a slow start to the year in the family market, with several telling TTG some of their loyal family customers have "failed to turn up" during the first few months of the year.

“We’re certainly not seeing families come back yet in big numbers,” said Henbury Travel owner Richard Slater. “Generally, our two adults, two kids customers have gone AWOL.”

The Travel Network Group’s chief commercial officer Vim Vithaldas highlighted how a lot of early year family enquiries had not converted into bookings. It all points to another busy lates market, similar to 2024, he said.

"We’re slightly down on our family holiday bookings, but we’re hoping the market will pick up after the Easter period,” said Felicity Ralfs, owner of Nailsea-based Butterfly Travel.

So why is this affecting families, in particular? Speaking to TTG, agents cite a range of factors, from economic worries to holding out for the best deal or going direct with some suppliers already starting to discount.

Is it the economy?

Anna Reed, director of Ocky White Travel, believes holidaymakers are putting off booking their summer getaways because of the current economic uncertainty, brought on by Budget measures that took effect earlier this month and Donald Trump’s tariff war.

"People are worried about their financial situation as they’re not sure what the future will hold,” Reed said. Slater added: “There may be some worries about redundancies – the extra National Insurance costs have kicked in, so there may be some redundancies to come.”

Brits are not the only ones feeling the pinch. Niall McDonnell, managing director of Dublin-based agency Killiney Travel, told TTG he was confident Irish families would eventually book, but were still deciding where to go "and more importantly how much they’re going to spend".

Getting the best deal

Agents said the current economic climate meant people were continuing to look for – and prioritise – value when it comes to booking holidays, deciding to either wait for last-minute deals or make trade-offs such as reducing the length of their stay to stay within their budgets.

Ralfs recalled how she switch-sold a customer from Cyprus to Mauritius with the Indian Ocean, currently offering value versus European short-haul, while McDonnell highlighted how his clients were becoming increasingly interested in cruising owing to the value proposition.

“All-inclusive is becoming an option for more Irish people,” he said. “If somebody pays a certain amount on a cruise, they know that is essentially what the week is going to cost them as excursions, meals and drinks are all included.”

Several agents said they had seen early signs of summer discounting by suppliers, and were having to discount themselves to compete. Ralfs said that in the past month, she had discounted more per booking than in the previous three months, while Slater said operators would "have to have a tickle at pricing".

Reed added: "We used to really value our time and not discount but, in the current market, people are looking everywhere to get the best value, and with more agents and online operators racing to the bottom, we’re having to discount too – but we’ll only go so far."

A different kind of summer

Agents told TTG the concept of "value" was also becoming detached from just being about cost and extending to how experiences are bundled into holidays.

TravelTime World director Ashley Quint said his customers were making less traditional summer bookings, opting for European rail travel or short continental breaks that are not beach-based.

"Customers, especially families, are looking for more of an adventure rather than staying in one place,” Quint said. “They want to do something more stimulating for their children, whether that’s something cultural or exploring the natural world."

Quint said people were willing to pay more for something "that has a lot more included and is perceived as more worthwhile” instead of spending slightly less on a two-week European beach holiday.

Reed agreed, telling TTG Ocky White’s customers were looking to get the most out of their holidays by getting “quite involved” with the local culture and doing more adventurous activities.

So, is it all doom and gloom? TTNG’s Vithaldas is confident of a healthy booking rebound which could drive "a second peaks" this summer. “I expect things to slowly start coming back,” he said. “Last year, a lot of families got good deals in the lates market, so try your luck.”

Meanwhile, Henbury Travel’s Slater added: “It will come, I’ve been in travel for 38 years and seen lots of recessions – experience tells me it will come."