Cold snap sees holiday bookings rise
The 'beast from the east' has seen sales in sunshine holidays rise by 44 per cent at an Oswestry travel agents.
Hays Travel Oswestry, in Cross Street, which is part of Hays Travel North West, is reporting the upsurge in sales compared to the same time last year.
Bosses believe the recent cold snaps have helped hot up sales by encouraging Shropshire holiday makers to book a warm sunshine holiday to look forward to and created more time for snowed in customers to look on social media where they are alerted to the best deals.
Lindsay Barber, Retail Sales Director for Hays Travel North West, said: “The early part of the year is always a bumper sales period for us but our sales figures have been through the roof so far this year.
“We have had a phenomenal increase with Oswestry recording a 44 per cent increase for March when compared with the same time last year.
"Many customers were coming in and telling us that they were fed up of the cold and wanted to get a holiday booked so they knew they were guaranteed some warmer weather at some point. It was the same for our foreign exchanges. People were coming in and picking up their currency and saying how they could not wait to get away."
The stores and others in the group are having a dedicated super summer holiday for 2019 sales day on April 5 aimed at offering a variety of discounts and incentives, particularly for families keen to avoid the summer holiday price hike.
“Because we are independent, people know that we can offer such a wide range of holidays tailored exactly to what they want, from a traditional bucket and spade week in the sun to a round the world cruise and everything in between.
“These days, our customers are looking to explore different places and they are prepared to travel much further afield and we can literally help them reach any destination they like, however they like and that’s why they keep coming back to us.”
Hays Travel North West was set up by Managing Director Don Bircham, a father-of-two from North Wales, who set the business up with a single travel agency in Mold town centre in 2000. Last year the company announced a record turnover of more than £50m.
