The Holiday World shows in Belfast and Dublin proved to be not only informative but entertaining this year with a question and answer session from Ryanairs`s “Michael O Leary”.Michael took to the stage in Dublin and advised everyone to book flights with the airline and not through travel agents. He was met with quite a bit of opposition from both agents and the general public. He does point out if you don’t like his rules you have a choice and can book elsewhere. He might be a bit concerned to know we spoke to many visitors at the shows who indicated this year they were looking for TWO things, value for money and consumer protection. DIY travel was not an option. Ash clouds, political unrest and extreme weather conditions extensively covered by the media have taken their toll.
We were able to reassure our visitors that we offered both value for money and peace of mind as well as helpful advice and expert knowledge if the resorts. Unlike previous years we didn’t get so many direct enquiries for specific countries. People are prepared to be flexible in order to ensure they get the best holiday available.
It was good to see tourist boards proudly promoting their countries and Spain, Croatia, Cyprus and Turkey all had a steady stream of visitors doing their research on what the countries had to offer. There were tour operators, cruise operators, and airlines displaying their wares and all reported steady business with flexible customers open to good offers.
Lets in the Sun also noticed an increase in off season enquiries for longer stays, a direct result of the extreme winter weather, lots of couples are intending to spend at least 4 weeks in sunnier climes.
We also met lots of guests who thought villas were an expensive option, when we quoted them on a per person basis they were amazed at the value this holiday offered them.
The two most popular trends for 2011/2012 are all-inclusive holidays and self-catering holidays. The Irish holidaymakers despite all the financial problems in the country will not give up their holiday. They do want to budget carefully and have identified these two types of holiday as the best way to stick to a budget.
The next show is A Place in the Sun at Earls court in London. It is a different market and will be interesting to see how perceptions have changed from the last show in Birmingham.
