Surge in advance Holiday Bookings for 2017
Click&Go analysed in excess of 4 million holiday searches on their website to over 9,500 destinations for 2017 travel and pulled out the key trends for Sun and City destinations. Advance passenger bookings, for travel in 2017, are running at +90% until the end of November, with the key Summer months of June – September running at +72%.
Compared to H1 2016, the CSO reported an increase of outbound travel from Ireland of 7%. In January of this year, according to the Irish Examiner, some Travel agents reported a rise of 40% for early Summer 2016 bookings.
The ITAA (Ireland Travel Agents Association) recently completed their 2016 quarterly survey showing strong growth across the board for the travel industry in Ireland. Their findings showed that Irish consumers are booking their 2017 holidays much earlier. A massive 72% of agents surveyed indicated that they had an increased turnover in the third quarter, and furthermore, 20% of those shared that their turnover was in excess of 20%.
2017bookings
Advance holiday booking trends for 2017 for the first half of the year (H1)
So what does the picture look like by month? Click&Go’s data is showing an increase of up to 18% for travel in January, with February, March, April and June showing an increase versus last year. These figures are likely to increase from January 2017.
What are the Top 5 Sun Destinations for 2017?
Key Findings according to the ITAA show that Spain and Portugal are the top 2 sun destinations for Winter holidays amongst the Irish market. Click&Go reported the top 3 sun destinations for 2017 as the Canaries, Portugal and Spain. to date. The 2 most popular Sun destinations, with a combined percentage of 53%, are Lanzarote (29%) and the Algarve (24%).
What are the Top 5 City Destinations for 2017?
Key findings show New York has been selling very well, with 26% of all city bookings for 2017. This surge could be related to Aer Lingus adding a new service to Newark Airport. Click&Go is currently showing a spilt of 79% of passageners travelled to JFK Airport and 21% to Newark Airport. The Aer Lingus flights to New York are direct with 2 flights a day into JFK Airport and 1 flight into Newark Ariport. The ITAA have also reported an increase in travel to the USA for winter breaks.
Families are booking their 2017 trips to Paris Disneyland early this year, with 9% of City Breaks heading to the magic kingdom. Click&Go reported its top selling European City Breaks as Rome, Prague and Budapest.
Top Sun Destinations – 2017 vs 2016
The Spanish resorts of Majorca and Salou are seeing the largest increase in advance bookings, with Lanzarote, The Algarve and Gran Canaria performing slightly lower than in 2016.
The Canary Islands have seen an increase in demand, leading to a shortage of availability, as other travel markets, such as the UK, German and Scandinavian markets are choosing the Canaries, Spain and the Algarve over other countries because they are perceived as safer destinations.
Top City Destinations – 2017 vs 2016
Lisbon and Krakow have increased by up to 3%, while Rome and Budapest have remained flat so far. In 2016, Paris Disneyland, Prague, Amsterdam, London and Berlin all performed better. Disneyland Paris had the biggest drop YoY by 7%.
Top USA City Destinations – 2017 vs 2016
Year on year, New York is the best performing city for Click&Go in 2017, with a substantial 50% increase, as additional Aer Lingus flight capacity has been added from Ireland to New York. Additional flights to Newark Airport commenced in September 2016.
Holiday Type Mix 2017 vs 2016
Looking at a comparison between 2017 and 2016, Click&Go are reporting a shift in their product mix, with City and Cruise holidays increasing their mix of bookings.
Driving the mix in Cruise, Click&Go have seen a significant increase in first time Cruisers, especially with MSC, and have received an award for bestselling MSC cruise agent in Ireland for the second year in a row. ITAA members have separately voted Cruise as the top travel trend for 2017. Cruise companies have commented that they will be 50% sold for 2017 cruises by 31 December 2016.
Costs of Travel – Air fare per passenger to sun destinations
YoY the majority of flight prices have decreased for sun holidays. The only month that has increased is April, but the reason for this is the timing of Easter in 2016 and how it will fall next year. Great news for summer holiday makers, is that the summer months are all lower per person, compared to 2016.
Advance Holiday price per booking – Sun Holiday Price
The ITAA’s survey found that 36% of agents calculated the average holiday price for families between €1k – €2k per family.
For 2017 Click&Go bookings, March and April are seeing the biggest difference in average price YoY, but the reason for this is the way Easter fell in 2016 and how it will fall next year. Great news for summer holiday makers, July is only slightly higher with an increase of €7 per person, but August has had a significant decrease with a €50 per person difference.
Click&Go Website Searches
The top 10 Click&Go website searches this year showed the majority (31% of searches) correlate with top selling sun destinations; Lanzarote, the Algarve, Costa del Sol and Majorca.
Source: Click&Go Data – What has booked to Travel in 2017 – based on booking dates 01/01/16 – 17/11/16
