TTG Agenda 2025, in association with PwC, polled 2,000 consumers to get a snapshot of the market after another topsy turvy year where few could predict exactly what was going to happen next. The data was shared with delegates at the Agenda breakfast briefing held at TTG’s central London offices.

With peaks around the corner, an expert panel picked up apart the data and reflected on the year and which market trends have emerged.  

Credit: TTG

Too much capacity to fill in 2026?

Travel Trade Consultancy director Martin Alcock highlighted the staggering amount of mass market capacity that is available in 2026.

“We’ve got to remember in the mass market we’re going into next year with the most capacity that we’ve ever had,” he said. “It’s half of the UK population – 35.6 million seats.”

Unsurprisingly, he delivered a note of caution swiftly afterwards, saying: “We’re seeing growth year after year, but sooner or later we’re going to have to hit the peak.

“The danger is, if the market is a bit nervous, if all those savings don’t turn into bookings, there’s a lot of capacity the big operators are going to have to shift.

“It’s about holding your nerve [on price]. You need a certain price just to stand still on a margin perspective. If everybody starts discounting that’s when you get into difficulty.”

(Credit: iStock / GordZam)

Nonetheless, he believes peaks will get off to a “very strong” start. However, he added: “I feel like there’s enough demand from consumers, but there’s still some concern.”

Read PwC's latest Agenda 2025 Report

PwC data revealed that 67% of people say they will spend the same or more on holidays next year, but concerns around the UK economy (86%), the cost-of-living (85%) and job security (37%) remain.

The number of respondents who have concerns around the UK economy has jumped 16 percentage points since January 2025.

‘Best trading days’

It’s fair to say that the travel sector was largely willing the Budget announcement to come and then quickly go. Speculation beforehand about what the Budget would contain was rampant and was ultimately hitting consumer confidence.

Alcock, fresh off the plane from the Aito conference in Asturias, Spain, caught many at TTG’s Agenda briefing by surprise when he revealed “two or three” specialist operators had seen their “best trading days” of the year after the Budget announcement.

“There was a lot of fear about what could be announced in the Budget,” he said. “People were terrified depending on what demographic you were in.

“Beforehand there were all sorts of stories but I’ve heard from two or three operators they achieved their best trading days after the Budget. That’s just anecdotal evidence. It was the best Budget that we could have had.”

P&O Cruises’ associate vice-president, sales and distribution, Ruth Venn, noted there were some pre-Budget nerves at Carnival House in Southampton.

But she added that said “people want to spend money”. “There are people that did all their Christmas shopping on Black Friday,” she continued.

‘Black November’

Venn hailed Black Friday sales for P&O Cruises, before coining the term “Black November”.

She said: “Black Friday has been building for the past six years or so. It wasn’t really a thing in the travel market but for some people it’s not Black Friday, it’s Black November, it’s massive.”

Credit: iStock/ Bohdan Bevz

P&O Cruises, Venn said, generally sees web traffic build from early November as “people try and see what’s coming”. “There is a softening in sales before Black Friday,” she continued.

Meanwhile, Alcock said: “If you think about the mass market, travel could have been more involved in Black Friday than ever before.

“It was a consumer thing for a while but it’s now much more prominent in travel.”

However, once again referring to the recent Aito conference, Alcock said: “Among the specialists, less than 10% of Aito members ran a Black Friday promotion because it’s not their thing. They’re more about value and inspiration.”

How to create your own peaks

Venn gave some insight into the kind of levers P&O Cruises and other Carnival Corporation brands can pull if sales levels are not where they need to be.

“One of the things that we do well is we create our own peaks, using programme launches or our partnerships such as Bafta,” she explained.

“Basically, with any opportunities to talk about our brands, we can create our own peaks.”

Talk about value a cruise holiday offers

According to PwC data, cost is a key decision factor for holidaymakers at the moment. More than half (56%) of the 2,000 respondents said affordability is among the most important points to consider before booking.

Venn added: “We still see the same misconceptions in cruise so we try and talk about value. I think we can do that with confidence.

“When you factor in what you get on a cruise holiday – and I know I’m preaching to the converted – it’s incredible value. We have to talk about the value and what’s included. Those messages are going to be key. Last night I was having dinner with my family and the price of eating out is huge.”

She added that “agents do a better job” of talking about the value a cruise holiday offers  “than anyone”. “They can really break the price down,” Venn said. “They know the customer and what’s important to them.”

What is the new normal now?

Kelly Walker, TTC Tour Brands’ director of sales for UK, Ireland and Europe, believes consumers can adjust to price rises over time.  

“When you walk into a London pub now, you know you’re going to pay £7 for pint. You’re not shocked by that any more. That’s just acceptable,” she explained. “I feel in the mass market a week in Spain with the family costing £4,000 is the new normal now.

“A year or two ago that would have seemed expensive but now we’re training people that is how much it costs to go away.”

John Sullivan, Advantage Travel Partnership commercial director, echoed Walker’s comments before stressing that “a good agent” can successfully up sell in the current market.

“If you take the price of some mass market European summer holidays, you could go to Thailand for not a lot more,” he said. “If you’re a good agent and you’re trying to sell up and give your customer a great experience, the customer might come in asking for Benidorm and end up in Thailand.

“I’m exaggerating but you’re a great agent because you sold them something they didn’t know they could afford.”

Where did the family market go last summer? 

It feels like the travel sector has spent a large part of 2025 asking itself "where is the family market?"

Sullivan addressed this point, saying: “Everybody talked about families being the missing bit of the market this year. That was very much the narrative. We all talked ourselves into the space.”

(Credit: iStock / AzmanL)

But Sullivan revealed following some investigations at the time family bookings are only dropped 3% year on year.

“The talk made it seem the drop was much bigger than that,” he added. “I think there was a lot of tactical activity to drive summer sales. It did feel like it was tactical smoke and mirrors to get consumer interest.”

Finally, he suggested there may be more tactics of this kind to drive bookings in 2026. “I think we will see some of that again this year if that’s what the market needs,” he added.