Early bookings still 'healthy' for Virgin Holidays - TravelMole


Early bookings still ‘healthy’ for Virgin Holidays

Saturday, 17 Feb, 2005 0

An increasing trend towards late bookings has not stopped loyal customers booking more than a year ahead, says Virgin Holidays.

Speaking to TravelMole.com, general manager Kieran Farragher said: “We are big for late bookings and have seen that increase over the last couple of years. But we still find a core customer sector that books early. This tends to be families who are restricted on when they can take a holiday and want to know where they’re going and what the standard of accommodation will be.

“It also works out cheaper as you don’t get offers like free child places if you book last minute.”

Mr Farragher said the Florida market, the biggest seller for Virgin Holidays, was often booked early, particularly for families wanting to stay in private homes.

“They are people who have been before and don’t need to see the brochure,” said Mr Farragher.

He added: “Every year we have very healthy early bookings but I wouldn’t say that was bucking the trend for late bookings.”

Consequently, Virgin Holidays has launched a new initiative to enable travel agents to register early bookings online. Mr Farragher says the company has been innundated with requests for 2006 registrations, although Virgin Holidays’ brochures will not be on sale until the spring.

Advance registrations were something which used to be “messy” to organise he says, but now agents can fill out a form on the trade website, www.vhols4agents.com. Once all details of the holiday are available, Virgin Holidays contacts the agent.

Report by Ginny McGrath



 

profileimage

Ginny McGrath



Most Read

Mark Jaronski of Explore Georgia on FIFA World Cup 2026

Connecting Small Businesses to Global Tourism Markets: Nate Huff of Tourism Exchange

North Carolina’s Resilience: Wit Tuttell on Recovery and Tourism

Kittipong Prapattong’s Plan for Thailand’s Tourism Growth: Taxes, Visas, and Campaigns

James Jin: Didatravel’s Journey from China to Global Reach and the Impact of AI on Travel

Darien Schaefer on Pensacola’s Evolution: From Small Town to Global Destination

Florida Tourism’s Next Frontier: Dana Young on Expanding Beyond the Classics

Patrick Harrison on Tampa Bay Tourism’s Resilience and Marketing Strategy

Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene

Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee

Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail

Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats
TRAINING & COMPETITION

Our emails to you has bounced travelmole.com Or You can change your email from your profile Setting Section

Your region selection will be saved in your cookie for future visits. Please enable your cookie for TravelMole.com so this dialog box will not come up again.

Price Based Country test mode enabled for testing United States (US). You should do tests on private browsing mode. Browse in private with Firefox, Chrome and Safari