IT’S an ill wind that blows nobody good – and that includes the Beast from the East.
The bitter winds that brought March in like a lion have contributed to a 40 per cent sales boost in sunshine holidays for a Warrington travel agency.
Hays Travel in London Road, Stockton Heath, on London Road, is reporting the upsurge in sales for February when compared to the same time last year.
The travel firm’s branch at Market Gate, Warrington is also reporting similar positive figures.
Company bosses believe the recent cold snaps have helped hot up sales by encouraging local holiday makers to book a warm sunshine holiday to look forward to and creating more time for snowed in customers to look for the best deals.
Lindsay Barber, retail sales director for Hays Travel North West, said: “The early part of the year is always a bumper sales period for us but our sales figures have been through the roof so far this year.
“For some of the individual stores, we have had a phenomenal increase with Stockton Heath reporting a 40 per cent increase for March when compared with the same time last year.
“The Beast from the East has definitely had an impact. Many customers were coming in and telling us that they were fed up of the cold and wanted to get a holiday booked so they knew they were guaranteed some warmer weather at some point.
“It was the same for our foreign exchanges. People were coming in and picking up their currency and saying how they could not wait to get away, so we are sure the cold weather has impacted positively on sales.
“We also noticed a sudden improvement in the number of sales coming through via social media and with many people ending up stuck indoors because of the snow, there was possibly more time to sit down at home and use social media where we publicise some of our best deals.”
The bumper sales period will be further encouraged by an upcoming dedicated super summer holiday for 2019 sales day which is traditionally one of the busiest days of the year for Hays Travel.
Aimed at offering a variety of discounts and incentives, particularly for families keen to avoid the summer holiday price hike, the Hays Travel stores will open early on Thursday April 5 and serve tea and coffee throughout the day for a stream of people keen to book ahead for 2019 and make the most of the deals available.
