David Burrows / Shutterstock.com” width=”300″ height=”230″ />Travel agents still have time to capture holiday sales during the Olympics as one in five Brits plan to take a holiday during the period, according to a new Amadeus report.
A YouGov survey on behalf of the travel technology company found 43% of that fifth are yet to book a holiday for the Olympics period, with 26% looking for a bargain. Some 7% are also interested in receiving suggestions from travel agents for tailored breaks, with Amadeus now urging agents to capitalise on the late market.
“With our data also revealing the huge appetite amongst the public for deals on travel, the Olympics clearly present a huge opportunity for travel agents in the UK,” said Diane Bouzebiba, managing director of Amadeus, UK and Ireland.
Meanwhile, hotel availability in London has seen mixed media coverage, with availability and some statistics suggesting customers are leaving it late to book or delaying their visit until later in August. Superbreak has said it has availability in London and urged agents to contact clients to check if they have tickets and arrange hotels.
“I think many agents have assumed that London is full and that rooms are just not available. This is not the case as we still have product to sell. We want to encourage agents to get as much as they can out of this busy time and ensure that they promote the message to all their customers that it is still possible to stay in London during the Olympics if they book now,” said Graham Balmforth, national sales manager at Superbreak.
Later in August, data from intelligence firm TravelClick has suggested a third of London’s hotel rooms are already sold for the August bank holiday weekend, up 24.2% compared to last year. Prices over the weekend are up 25.2% for the average daily rate in line with demand, indicating the capital will not see a post-games drop in stays.
VisitBritain bumped up its marketing efforts this week by enlisting the help of Boris Becker, Lennox Lewis and Colin Montgomerie to share what they love about Britain. The tourism agency also launched its tourist tips with David Beckham in its ‘Best of Britain’ app with Samsung. Its GREAT campaign aims to boost visitor figures by an extra 4.6 million by 2015.
