Travel Agents, here, saw a healthy increase in bookings last year; detailing their full recovery from the Covid crisis.
The annual member survey from the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) shows that 75% of Irish travel agents saw an increase of more than 10% in bookings compared to 2022.
Just over 20% of agents said bookings had increased by less than 10%, with 4% saying booking levels remained the same as the previous year. No agent said bookings had decreased during 2023.
Comparing 2023 to pre-Covid 2019, 46% of agents said that bookings had increased more than 10%; 21% said bookings increased by less than 10% and 11% said booking levels remained the same. Furthermore, 11% said booking levels decreased by less than 10% and 11% said bookings decreased by more than 10%.
Meanwhile, 78% of agents experienced an increased turnover of more than 10% in 2023 compared to 2022, while 54% of agents experienced an increased turnover of more than 10% in 2023 compared to 2019.
Clare Dunne, CEO of the Irish Travel Agents Association commented: “We are delighted to see our members succeeding and we are very happy to see that travel is well and truly back.”
A total of 44% of agents attributed 40%-60% of business to repeat customers and a further 37% attributed 60-80% of business to repeat customers.
The top three most popular countries for Irish holiday makers in 2023 were Spain, Portugal and USA.
For corporate bookings, 50% of agents experienced an increase of more than 10% in 2023 compared to 2022. Some 29% of agents experienced an increase of corporate bookings in comparison to 2019 and another 29% experienced the same level of bookings.
