The consortium has also revealed there had been 9% year-on-year growth in average booking value, with particularly strong demand for “re-emerging” destinations like Egypt, Tunisia and Malta, driven by their ability to offer “affordable luxury”.
Chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said: “Outbound travel is thriving and is back to pre-Covid numbers. The appetite to travel remains strong. We’ve had the cost-of-living issue in the past few years, but we’re not seeing that impact how consumers think about travel. It remains a priority within many households.”
Family market still there
During a press conference to reveal its latest trading figures in London on Thursday (4 September), Advantage highlighted growth in sectors such as short-haul, long-haul, cruise, and touring and adventure.
But while overall summer sales for Advantage members are up by 13% and departures up by 7% compared with last year, the number of family passengers has dropped by 3% year-on-year.
Advantage Travel Partnership commercial director John Sullivan (Credit: TTG Media)
Commercial director John Sullivan said: “Everybody’s been saying the family market has been missing. But that 3% drop in family passengers is not as much as we thought it might be. With the cost-of-living crisis, families feel these pressures more.
"We’ve seen an increase in all-inclusives, and there’s been a tendency to book a bit later as they wait to try to get a better deal.”
‘Ultra-lates’ and ‘ultra-earlies’
Advantage also identified more “ultra-late” sales this summer, with a 7% increase in customers booking within two weeks of travel – accounting for 11% of all bookings in 2025 so far. Nearly half (46%) of bookings for summer 2025 were made within 12 weeks of departure, which was an increase of four percentage points on 2024.
Conversely, Advantage’s members are also taking more “ultra-early” bookings – bookings made more than a year before the holiday – particularly for “bucket list” type trips. These sales now accounts for 9% of all the consortium’s leisure bookings.
Agents are now seeing some customers book these experiential holidays up to 15 months in advance, compared with a previous average booking window of six to 10 months for holiday bookings.
The rise of shoulder-season travel
Sullivan also focused on “the rise” of the shoulder seasons. Advantage’s sales for travel between May and June rose by 11% year-on-year, while departures in September and October have shot up by 28%. This increased demand has been attributed to lower prices, fewer crowds and cooler weather during these off-peak months.
Despite the impressive growth for destinations such as Egypt, Tunisia and Malta, old summer favourites like Spain, Greece and Turkey continue to be the most popular short-haul options.
For long-haul, there has been a 19% year-on-year rise in bookings for Advantage compared with 2024, with the most popular destinations being the Maldives, US, United Arab Emirates, the Caribbean and Thailand.
‘Trump trauma’ not harming US sales
Sullivan said sales to the US have not suffered any impact due to “Trump trauma”. He added leisure bookings to the US were “doing exceptionally well” and were ahead of the previous year. This was in stark contrast to the corporate travel market, where travel from the UK to the US is down by around 26% year-on-year.
Despite the positive numbers, Sullivan told TTG there was “an air of caution” with some consumers in “wait and see” mode as speculation mounts about potential tax rises in the government’s budget in late November.
“We’re not seeing any impact at the moment – it’s really positive and holding up well,” he added. “But we’re very conscious there could be some headwinds approaching.”
Cruise booming as lines go on sale earlier
Advantage director of cruise Jonny Peat (Credit: Advantage Travel Partnership)
Cruise has also seen double-digit growth for Advantage this year, with bookings up by 10% and average booking values rising by 11%. Much of this business has been driven by expedition (+34%), river (+24%) and luxury (+13%) cruises, although bookings for ocean itineraries also increased by 10% year-on-year.
Jonny Peat, Advantage’s newly promoted director of cruise, highlighted how river trips were proving to be a “softer way to introduce cruise” to new customers, with up to a third (65%) of river clients taking a cruise holiday for the first time.
He also emphasised significant increases in forward bookings for cruise this year – up by 38% year-on-year for 2026 departures, while early booking for 2027 have surged by 62%. “Cruise operators are going on sale earlier – by as far as 2028 – they are coming out of the gate earlier,” said Peat.
