Summer Bookings for 2025 in the UK are Smiling

The UK tourism sector has recorded a huge increase in bookings for the 2025 summer season. Stating that demand is still strong despite the end of August, following record sales in July, Travel Counsellors' global Sales Manager Jim Eastwood stated that 2025 summer bookings are already up 34 per cent. ‘Throughout August, we saw a significant increase in last minute bookings and forward bookings,’ said Eastwood.

Healthy Booking Flow and Increase in Cruise Sales

Gary Gillespie, Product Manager at The Travel Network Group, said that although there was a slight slowdown in bookings in August compared to July, the booking flow was still healthy. Gillespie said, ‘In August, we saw a week-on-week growth in 2025 sales, with cruise sales also seeing a significant increase this month due to some excellent price reductions.’

Interest in ‘All Inclusive’ Holidays and Long Haul Travel

Advantage Travel Partnership Commercial Manager John Sullivan stated that mass tourism, long-haul and cruise sales have seen strong demand over the last few weeks. ‘Demand has continued to be strong, with mass tourism sales up 20 per cent, long-haul sales up 15 per cent and cruise sales up 33 per cent compared to last year. Although all-inclusive holiday prices are high, they are incredibly popular because they allow consumers to control their spending.’

High Demand for the Period to the End of October

Premier Travel General Manager Paul Waters stated that August was a strong month and said, ‘30 per cent of the sales belong to the period until the end of October. Interest in cruise and European tours is high and prices are good,’ he said. Waters added that an increase of 20 per cent has been recorded in the last weeks.

Record Sales in August

Dawson & Sanderson's Corporate and Commercial Manager Jusith Alderson said, ‘Package tour sales increased by 15 per cent and turnover by 14 per cent last week,’ while Idle Travel Manager Tony Mann announced that they made record sales in August. Mann said that the sales were mostly for the months of September, October and the 2025 period and that the most sold destinations were Turkey, Greece, Tenerife and Benidorm.

Intense August Sales and 2025 Summer Bookings

Lisa McAuley, Marketing Manager of Hays Travel, said, ‘We had intense sales thanks to families’ last-minute holiday getaways and summer 2025 bookings.’ Charlotte Wilson, Marketing Manager of Blue Bay Travel, stated that they grew by 40 per cent this year and said, ‘Summer sales were strong in August and accounted for 35 per cent of all our sales. Last year this rate was 25 per cent.’

Travel agencies and tour operators in the UK seem quite pleased with the increase in bookings for the 2025 summer season. The continued strength of demand and consumer trends increasing interest in the travel sector is considered a positive sign for the future of the tourism industry. In particular, the increase in categories such as cruise and ‘all-inclusive’ holidays shows that holidaymakers continue to be interested in different travel experiences.