Last month, the Firebird Partnership invited its network of travel businesses to share their notes on January trading. How did the year begin? Founders, CEOs and MDs dig into the details.
Traditionally January is a peak time for bookings for most tour operators, as high volumes of customers start the year with a raft of new resolutions: whether it’s seeing the world, exploring with loved ones – or securing some alone time after a hectic Christmas period. But did January 2025 fit the trend across the sector? Read on for the inside story from a range of tour operators based in the UK.
Enquiries - “really busy”
Across the board, we heard that the volume of enquiries was high in January: up 56% year on year (YOY) for luxury river cruising firm French Waterways; “really busy” for specialist tour operator Africa & Beyond, and lead numbers that surpassed December 2024 for hiking holiday experts EverTrek. There was an increase in enquiries for school trip specialist Activ4 too, while MD Amy Hope described the annual influx of interest in Artisan’s range as “in a word ‘manic’ but then isn’t it always! Working in travel in January is not for the weak!”
Matt Purser, MD of Africa & Beyond, put the surge down to a desire among customers to book ahead, saying, “I think the New Year helps focus people’s minds to plan their holidays for the year, even though [at Africa & Beyond] they aren’t trying to secure bargains or sale promotions.”
Bookings & revenue - “generally up”
Bookings were also generally strong for many of the tour operators we spoke to. Cultural tour provider Peter Sommer Travels reported being more than 10% up on last year by the third week of January. Similarly, walking and self-drive specialists Absolute Escapes saw “solid year on year sales growth of approximately 10%”. The newly rebranded Football Escapes also saw “very strong” sales throughout the month, of about 15% up YOY. While pilgrimage and faith-based provider McCabe was up by a “fantastic” 33% on January 2024.
For Africa & Beyond, conversions were slow in the week commencing 6 January – not unusual for the types of holidays the business sells – but “really picked up” as the month progressed. Elsewhere, the cruise value of French Waterways’ secured bookings was up an impressive 45% YOY.
At escorted tour specialist Travel Editions, which was acquired by Artisan in November 2024, passenger numbers and revenue were “relatively steady YOY” for the same period last year. “We [had] significantly higher YOY bookings for both November and December 2024,” said Amy Hope, “so January saw this start to slow a little.” Nevertheless, she added, more bookings to travel in Q1 and Q2 were made last month than in January 2024.
At Artisan, bookings for the next winter season were 63% up for revenue in the year to date, while the number of customers booking to depart this winter – i.e. before the end of March – were down by around 35%: “It all seems to be around… planning far ahead,” said Amy, as well as “planning for next Christmas to be magical!”
Marketing & product - short term v. long term
Several businesses highlighted the positive effect of marketing on figures in January, with a number seeing new initiatives increase their leads and conversion rates. Africa & Beyond saw the impact of a new incentive for agents, for example, which helped secure quotes.
For Andy Gabe, director and co-founder of Absolute Escapes, a targeted approach to marketing activity was a main factor driving growth, alongside “the development of a dedicated sales team and the launch of our Absolute Escapes Loyalty Club.” Similarly, the launch of a new self-drive product in Ireland had received an “overwhelmingly positive” response. “It’s been great to see how well it’s resonating with our target market and existing clients,” said Andy.
For Martin Adams, director at McCabe, high booking rates were likewise driven by a “successful restart of marketing activity, which we had paused on the outbreak of the war in Gaza”. At the same time, he added, “our Operations Team have been making outbound sales calls to customers who travelled with us last autumn to secure repeat bookings from our pilgrims at a key moment: when they are happy, emotionally recharged and fresh after having returned from an enjoyable – and often life-affirming! – travel experience”.
At Football Escapes, non-executive director Chris Thompson described how sales were significantly boosted by the signing of Wayne Rooney as an ambassador for a February half-term beach holiday. The company also launched a new website early in the month.
EverTrek saw a boost from a new signing too, with MD Rhys David reporting that the announcement of their first brand ambassador – ex-sportsman and Welsh rugby icon Jon “Fox” Davies – had “led to a record-breaking week of social engagement”. While a website refresh for EverTrek is in progress, the current site nevertheless saw a strong month for “Happy Path” sales too, with customers booking online directly with the tour operator.
Rhys added that the business’s cost per acquisition (CPA) was down 20% by late January, meaning they were now paying less for prospects – and that they had seen the most success with short-term marketing campaigns that create “more urgency”, rather than longer-term initiatives.
In the world of luxury hotel barging, French Waterways may soon be aiming for a similar response from its customers, after their river cruise expert reported that “even [availability in] the 2025 shoulder season is very limited, which is very unusual... A sense of urgency would be good on the part of the clients.”
As MD Rosie Mansfield explained, “River cruise and barge cruise search volumes are seeing huge increases since the turn of the year… While there are still pockets of good availability in hotel barge cruising regions, popular [options] are significantly booked.” She added, “Choice will become limited for 2025 soon. We are also advising clients to secure their 2026 preferred week so as not to lose out…”
Elsewhere, Martin Adams commented on how late many of McCabe’s bookings come in, with average lead times for direct-to-customer trips standing at around four months before departure “and this isn’t just during January.” He continued, “Aside from giving me heart palpitations, the main challenge this poses is flights: either we gamble on a tour that is giving no indication of becoming viable or we – and by extension, our customers – pay higher prices.”
The company has, however, seen success through building “strategic Early Booking Discounts” into their tour costings from the outset. “Two tours scheduled for autumn 2025 that we used this approach on are now 90% full,” Martin revealed.
Looking forward - “promising”
It would seem that the year ahead holds a lot of potential for most tour operators in the Firebird network, with Peter Sommer summarising his outlook positively: “We’re flourishing and 2025 is looking promising.” For the MD of Activ4, Steve Scott – whose school-focused business is “quite separate from the wider travel market” – unfolding national developments will be at play, as his team monitors a “number of adjustments in the market and… [sees] the initial reaction to the government’s decision to add VAT to school fees.”
Reflecting on his own hopes for the year, Martin Adams says, “Well, a 33% increase against February 2024 would be nice! We are also cautiously hopeful of relaunching tours and pilgrimages to the Holy Land again. Having not budgeted for any Holy Land for the foreseeable future, this will make a big difference to McCabe and will supercharge our 2025/ 2026 growth plans.”
Meanwhile, at Absolute Escapes, the mood overall is high. “We’ve been really pleased with the results this month,” says Andy Gabe. His conclusion echoes the feelings of many others in the network: “While there are always some hurdles to overcome, such as keeping pace with evolving customer needs, we’re really optimistic about the momentum we’ve built so far. It feels like we’re in a strong position heading into the rest of the year.”
The Firebird Partnership offers a consulting and corporate finance advisory service specialising in the travel, hospitality, leisure and education markets. Together its team of directors works with businesses at every stage of their journey to deliver rapid growth and take companies forward.
Learn all about Firebird at www.firebirdpartnership.com
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