Agencies have reported a strong start to the 2026 ‘historical boon’ booking period of January, despite reports of a soft start in January from a number of suppliers. Here, ITTN rounds-up the early year moods of some of Ireland’s leading agents.
Jeff Collins, Managing Director of Best4Travel, told ITTN that bookings have been strong for the family, cruise and touring side of his business, with repeat clients loving the in-store experience his shops allow, along with their exceptionally popular low booking deposit of €50.
Emma McHugh, Managing Director of Atlantic Travel, spoke to me about the demand for cruise bookings in her agency; revealing the week between Christmas and New Year were bumper weeks for her agency, and with last week being the busiest week she has seen in over 15 months. Emma also noted the trend for confirming at the time of enquiry. The mid-terms of October and sun holidays for December 2026 are in vogue and actual booking spend is up, she said. From a cruise perspective, Asia cruises are trending and Mediterranean cruises remain the most popular. Emma also reported a surge in USA bookings, especially to Orlando…and, a move toward group family bookings of 3-5 families all booking to travel together.
Clem Walshe, Commercial Director Ireland of LoveHolidays, stated that it has been a decent first week back. Booking levels improved consistently throughout the week, leading to record-breaking booking days on Thursday and Friday last week. He continued that overall sentiment improved as the week progressed and that they were seeing positive booking trends across core short-haul beach, European cities, and long-haul destinations. All the indicators suggest this will be a big sales week.
Sharon Harney, General Manager, Cassidy Travel, saw 124 different routes booked last week alone – which gives an idea of the range of destinations available to the Irish public. Cruise continues to be strong, with a trend in group multi-generational families securing the deals early. There’s still a desire for winter sun, following a long and cold winter with the Canary Islands still most popular, and with Dubai competing strongly, Sharon said. City breaks are performing well, as always, with a wide range of short break destinations being booked…for example, Ireland’s Six Nations opener against France in Paris, next month, is steady and Cassidy is seeing an increase in interest (since the launch of Dancing With The Stars on RTÉ last week) for their 5 night package “dancing under the sun” in Benalmadena next May with Karen Byrne. Sharon also mentioned that family packages could be a bit more healthy.
Cathy Burke, Managing Director of Travel Counsellors, commented on a steady growth pattern, with Spain being the most popular destination, and the USA in second place. Good value to the USA – particularly Florida – is driving the popularity. Italy ranks in third place, but, excitingly, Australia is in fourth place followed by Portugal, Greece, UAE and Mexico. Cathy added big price increases in some European destinations, particularly Spain and Portugal, have resulted in a boom in Cruise, due to its good value for money and so much choice.
Stay tuned as we run a January weekly update on the market as we try to establish if 2026 will get us back to pre-Covid traditional booking trends...
