Travel with Katie Butler: The travel industry now enters its busiest time of the year

Katie Butler, Total Travel, writes: The travel industry now enters its busiest time of the year for new bookings – a term which is known as “Peaks”, a time, now that Christmas is behind us, many of us concentrate on getting a holiday booked for the coming year.

January can be a miserable month for many, not just the grey, rainy weather but also marking the end of the Christmas festivities and the return back to work for many.

As long as I have worked in this industry (which is a long time) January has remained the busiest time of the year for new bookings and we are extremely excited to see what “Peaks” 2024 looks like for us.

Last year we enjoyed the best January ever at Total Travel and 2023 will certainly take some beating.

This coming Saturday is another industry term know as " Sunshine Saturday” , the first Saturday of the year and is typically the most popular day to book an overseas holiday.

It goes without saying that our stores in Heckmondwike are fully staffed and excited to welcome you through our doors, we may even bring out the prosecco (we have a feeling we might need it).

Travel demand has remained consistent throughout the whole of 2023 including the quieter month of December, and the lull between C hristmas and New Year has shown positive signs that we should expect January to be a good one.

Our TV screens are dominated with holiday adverts at this time of year and there are definitely some really great deals to be had.

This said, depending on the time of year you wish to travel, you usually stand a good chance of grabbing a late deal, but not necessarily at a discounted price, as last years trends showed.

In fact if you have to travel at peak times – school holidays, over bank holidays, when the kids go back to school etc, you may find you will be paying more than you hoped for, especially if you leave it last minute.

Booking now gives you access to the deals that are on offer right now in addition to free child places and getting the accommodation and flight times that suit you best.

My advice is – if you are happy with your price for a holiday – then get it booked.

It is also worth noting, that many tour operators offer discount codes for extra benefits, such as myjet2 codes, rain cheque vouchers and app savings.

Please remember that you can also use these codes at most independent travel agencies, including ourselves – meaning you don't have to book online.

Last week, we enjoyed a busy few days between Christmas and New Year with summer family holidays accounting for 32 per cent of our new bookings.

Turkey took top spot (as it did for the majority of last year).

The last of the Christmas choccies have been removed from the shop and yet again – another January diet commences.

In fact in January we don't often get chance for lunch as we are too busy, but we wouldn't want it any other way.

We look forward to seeing you all very soon.