The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) has backed up claims from its UK counterpart ABTA (formerly the Association of British Travel Agents) that holidaymakers are increasing their business with travel agents in a bid for security and value for money in a high inflation world emerging from the Covid crisis.
Recent research by ABTA pointed to record sales January sales levels for many tour operators and travel agents in the UK, this year.
It also found that holidaymakers are now 36% more likely to book their trips through a travel agent than was the case before the pandemic.
The most popular reason for this was given as the security provided by a package holiday, followed by travel agents’ advice and then value for money.
Here, the ITAA has said the pattern in Ireland has been broadly similar, with agents and tour operators seeing something of a post-Covid bounce.
“Irish travel agents are experiencing similar patterns to our friends in the UK, in that the pandemic has reignited the need for financial and personal security and protection when booking a holiday,” said ITAA chief executive Pat Dawson.
