Down Under is on top for 2008

Travel agents are backing Australia to be the biggest winner out of all long haul destinations for 2008 according to research carried out by The Network – the leading field marketing company in the travel industry.

The research, which was conducted among 1,000 leading independent travel agents across the UK, found that 17% of agents expect Australia to see the largest increase in holiday bookings in 2008. With more aircraft capacity to Australia due to commence later on this year travel agents’ predictions may soon be realised. Other top long haul destinations tipped to do well in 2008 included the USA and Dubai.

Short haul winners, according to the independent travel agents, will be Greece and Italy. 15% of agents predicted the biggest increase in holiday bookings would be to Greece – and another 15% of agents favoured Italy as the most likely winner for holidays in 2008. Coming third and fourth in the short haul popularity stakes were Spain and Egypt respectively.

Agents are really optimistic about the prospects for holiday bookings in 2008, despite the credit squeeze and the economic slow down. As many as 38% of independent agents expect holiday bookings to increase by 5% to 10% in 2008 compared with last year. Another 23% of agents are predicting even bigger increases of 10% and more. The travel agency pessimists are in a very small minority – only 6% expect holiday bookings to be down in 2008.

These results are from face-to- face interviews conducted in January with independent travel agents by The Network’s specialist field staff. Regular surveys will be undertaken by The Network of retail travel agents and the results published in ‘Perspectives’ reports.

“The prospects for 2008 holiday bookings through the trade are hugely encouraging,” said Paula Lacey, business development director at The Network. “This first ‘Perspectives’ survey demonstrates the value of talking directly to travel agents to gain up-to-date market intelligence.”

For further information on The Network visit Thenetwork-uk.com.