10th January is predicted to be the busiest day of the year for holiday bookings according to leading holiday providers Thomson and First Choice. Based on booking patterns over the last five years and with great deals available including 20,000 free kids places, the holiday giants are expecting over one million people to go online or visit their high street stores on what is being termed Sunshine Saturday.
- Over one million people expected to visit a Thomson or First Choice shop or website this Saturday
- 37,000 customers expected to book in 24 hours
- Mobile and tablet bookings expected to hit all time high with 40% of bookings made on devices
As the post-Christmas blues kick in and Brits look to escape the weather for warmer climes, Thomson and First Choice are expecting to see 37,000 customers book to go on holiday in 2015. Bookings are predicted to peak in-store at 2.30pm and online at 8.30pm.
Furthermore, Thomson and First Choice are expecting more people than ever before to search for and book their holiday on a tablet or smartphone. Over 40% of the online bookings made this Saturday are expected to be made via these devices, up 10% versus last year.
With the introduction of the new MyThomson and MyFirstChoice apps with search and book function, Thomson and First Choice are predicting a new mobile booking record for 2015, beating last year’s single purchase of nearly £14,000 for a family holiday to Orlando via a mobile device.
The most popular short/mid haul destinations for the coming year are anticipated to be the Balearics, Canaries and Greece, whilst for those looking for some faraway sun Costa Rica, Mauritius and Mexico are set to top the list.
Thomson Cruises’ Cuban Fusion and Pride of Panama winter itineraries on-board the Thomson Dream are expected to be Sunshine Saturday bestsellers as Brits look to explore countries like Cuba and Central America from the ship’s new home port in Montego Bay, Jamaica. With Thomson Celebration also based in Caribbean for winter, replacing the Dream in its previous port in Barbados, Thomson Cruises also expects to see strong demand for the already popular itineraries sailing to Caribbean favourites such as Antigua, St Kitts and St Maarten. Sailings from Dubrovnik on-board the Thomson Celebration in the summer are also expected to be a hit with adult only itineraries available.
Taking all these holidaymakers away over the coming year, Thomson Airways will carry over 78,000 tonnes of luggage, flying over two million miles to 73 holiday destinations.
Andrew Flintham, Commercial Director, for Thomson and First Choice said: ‘With Christmas now out of the way many people feel they need a holiday in the sunshine to look forward to. Over the last few years we’ve noticed that our customers are booking holidays earlier and with searches over Christmas hitting an all-time high, we’re expecting the rush to continue with our busiest day of year this Saturday. It’s also the perfect time for Brits to take advantage of some of the great new year deals available to places like Croatia and Greece or further afield to Costa Rica, Thailand and Jamaica.”
© Thomson
