Irish travel agents experiencing 40% increase in holiday enquires

Dublin, 20 January 2016   The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) is reporting an unprecedented level of booking enquires to their member agents in the first few weeks of 2016. Following a steady growth in 2015, the Irish travel trade is now experiencing an increased level of booking enquires by Irish holiday makers.

Pat Dawson, CEO of the ITAA said, “Some ITAA members have seen a sales increase of 40% so far this month, compared with last year’s figures. Many agents are reporting their best sales in 7 years. Following a difficult few years, we are delighted to see this upturn in the travel trade.”

Dawson continued, “Recent terror attacks have pushed Egypt and Tunisia off the list of top destinations but they have not deterred Irish people from travelling. Irish holidaymakers are now turning to alternatives such as the Canary Islands, which have seen a large increase of bookings during the winter period. A large portion of the inquiries are from families, booking family holidays to Spain and Portugal.  Family camping packages to France and Italy are also very popular.”

He concluded, “We are seeing a rise in the budgets that people have to spend on their holidays, however, people are expecting a lot more for their money, they want high quality accommodation and they are looking for all inclusive packages. The recession taught us all to be more cautious with our spending and travel agents are working hard to provide people with exceptional value”.

The annual Holiday World Show, which returns to the RDS this Friday 22nd through to Sunday 24th January, is the perfect place for Irish holidaymakers to meet with over 1,000 travel and tourism professionals and snap up the dozens of great ‘show only’ deals. The 2016 show heralds an array of new exhibitors attending for the very first time, including the Barbados Tourism Authority, the Embassy of Chile, the Embassy of Lithuania, Ibiza, Ontario Tourism Marketing, Texas Tourism, Czech Republic, Southwest England, Hungary, Visit California and Manchester City Football Club.

For more information visit: www.holidayworldshow.com