“It's going to be a long, hard summer season”

Palma.— “It's going to be a long hard summer” Hugh Morgan, Managing Director of The Monarch Travel Group told the Bulletin this week after attending a special “Today's consumer” presentation by Deloitte about the current state of the travel industry. “Last year, the Royal wedding created this feel good factor and people decided to enjoy that by going on holiday but, this year, despite the Jubilee and the Olympics, we're not seeing that feel good factor yet. The weather's been dreadful, the Pound's at a three and a half year high meaning more bang for your buck in resorts but it's not translating into holiday sales. “People are still too worried about their financial and job security,” Morgan said. “Luckily, Monarch is doing well. We're out stripping the market by 13 percent because our sales are plus six percent of last year, so I guess some tour operators are really suffering with the overall market down seven percent. “As the market figures show, only three destinations are doing well, Minorca, Morocco and Tunisia and Spanish and Balearic hoteliers are flooding us with special offers because, for the time being, it's just not happening. For many of us, we're just having to hold our nerve because it is going to be a very, very late booking market as I have been warning for some months now and that will mean a much shorter season for the Balearics and other top destinations. “We're pushing hard, promoting hard but consumer confidence is low in the UK,” he added.
What is more, the government's multi million pound campaign to persuade people to holiday at home this year appears to have worked.
At the moment, the so called staycation market is up ten percent on last year according to Deloitte. “These next six weeks are going to be crucial,” Morgan said. “What happens on the market during this period will dictate how the summer is going to perform,” he explained.
But, it's not all bad news.
The bad weather does finally appear to have stimulated some parts of the market.
Agents are reporting a surge in sales that they are attributing to the gray, wet and cold weather.
Advantage leisure director Julia Lo Bue-Said said the last week had been “exceptionally strong”, with some of the consortium's preferred operators reporting a 20% rise in sales year-on-year.She acknowledged that while overall it remained a “tough trading environment”, the wet weather was likely to have been behind the bookings boost.