Customers are booking holidays closer to departure amid cost-of-living pressures, but ‘demand is resilient’, according to Dame Irene Hays.
Speaking at the Hays Travel Conference in Antalya, Turkiye, the group’s Owner and Director said consumer confidence had ‘dipped sharply’ in October, having started to recover following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East in February.
Head of Retail Paula Barrett said the lates market was particularly strong in July and August, which she described as ‘exceptional trading’ months, adding: “The lates market was really strong, and we capitalised on it.”
Irene said Hays Travel had been ‘absolutely flying’ until the end of February, and praised the group’s staff who have spent much of the time since then ‘dealing with crisis’, with around 300,000 Hays passengers travelling either to or via Dubai at the time.
Irene said Brits continued to prioritise holidays despite financial pressures, adding that ‘demand is resilient’.
She attributed the dip in October ‘primarily to concerns about the cost of living’.
Irene highlighted rising fuel and energy costs, as well as the fact that 286,000 people will face higher mortgage costs when their fixed rates end this year.
“It is the conflation of these issues in the domestic policy which is having an impact on our customer confidence,” she said.
The uncertainty is contributing to shorter booking windows, with people ‘booking within a few weeks, rather than within a few months’, added Irene.
Head of Sales Tanya Cooper added: “From 2027 we want late customers to be a key focus across the business all year round.”
The group has also seen a shift towards shorter holidays, with average booking durations falling across short-haul, long-haul and cruise since 2022.
Tanya said average cruise holidays had fallen from 14 to 11 nights, long-haul trips from 18 to 17 nights and short-haul holidays from 14 to nine nights.
She said the trend reflected customers looking to take more than one holiday a year.
Irene also outlined Hays Travel’s ambition to achieve an equal split between short-haul, long-haul and cruise sales. The group has been investing in growing its cruise and long-haul business since 2023, while continuing to grow its short-haul sales.
Irene added that last month’s Budget, which increased the National Living Wage by 3.9% to £13.21 for over-21s, won’t have a major impact.
She said: “We have just had the budget, which, thankfully, is not going to have the same impact on the National Living Wage. I’ve talked about that last year. It will not have the same impact as it has in the previous couple of years.”
