Bookings made in January to depart during this period (22 April – 6 May) were up a staggering 30% compared to the previous year, with the average holiday duration up from four days to eleven.

Travel Counsellors has also seen a shift towards people travelling to the eurozone, with Spain now the most popular destination for bookings made during January, knocking last year’s favourite, the USA, off the top spot to second. Italy is also proving popular at number three, having previously been the sixth most popular destination last year, with France appearing at number four replacing last year’s favourite Dubai. Turkey remains a firm favourite at number five, whilst last year’s third most popular destination Egypt has fallen to seventh place following the recent events in the country.

“We are certainly seeing a shift back to European destinations as the sterling gains against the euro, with prices in Spain at a record three-year low, making it much more affordable and better value for families booking their annual holiday,” says Managing Director Steve Byrne. “We also expect the trend in bookings over the Easter period to continue, as people make the most of the extended bank holiday.”

The new website, ismymoneysafe.co.uk, is being launched in advance of a new set of proposed guidelines for consumer protection devised by Company Chairman David Speakman in response to the collapse of a number of travel suppliers over the last twelve months.

Comments Speakman, “Whilst thousands of travellers have been stranded abroad or left without a holiday in recent months, the travel industry is losing its reputation. The withdrawal of ABTA protection in 2006 has been misunderstood by the trade, the media and in turn, the customer, resulting in the concept of travel financial protection being more complex and harder to understand than ever.”

Speakman is proposing a new scheme, which he believes should be applied industry wide and backed by the government to ensure that customer’s money is completely protected.

The benefits of Speakman’s proposal for the customer include;
• Easy to understand guidelines
• Radically increased protection providing comprehensive cover for the full range of travel products, including scheduled flights
• No extra charges

The benefits for the trade include;
• A transparent and simple framework with lighter regulation and no bonding
• Empowered to take a more prudent approach through a viable business model
• A prediction that travel suppliers will be less likely to collapse with the new scheme.

Speakman’s plans will be featured in full on the new website in the coming weeks. The website currently features a guide to travel protection and aims to help the travel trade and media to better understand the issues, and encourage a platform for debate by asking all travel suppliers to submit their policies on consumer financial protection.

Comments Speakman, “Booking a holiday is usually a considered purchase, and many people save their money in order to enjoy a well-earned break each year. The public have the right to know that their money is completely safe when they do so. We have launched the new website, ismymoneysafe.co.uk, to address the need for clarity and encourage a healthy discussion on the matter.”

As one of a handful of companies in the industry to operate a financial trust, Travel Counsellors provides a unique guarantee that covers absolutely every element of the booking, from car hire to low cost airlines.

Comments Speakman, “Scanning the news for profit warnings is unlikely to be many people’s idea of planning for a holiday. Consumers must now realise the value in booking with agents who can offer complete financial protection. The industry along with Government must face the responsibility of fully protecting customer money rather than looking at ways to avoid it. In the long run, some time and effort spent addressing the issue now will place the travel industry in the hearts and minds of the consumer as the very best at providing financial protection.”

“Each day brings a new activity”, says Sales Director Malcolm Hingley. “Over 150 children aged 1-16 years have already signed up to take part, with every activity taking a couple of hours to complete. We’ve noticed that customers are booking their holidays much later this year and as a result we’re seeing the emergence of a very strong late bookings market, especially for family groups. Our TC Kids activity programme frees up mum and dad’s time to concentrate on their customers during this period.”
The children who have signed up so far will tune in to Travel Counsellors TV webcast every Monday to be given their activities for the week, which was kick started last week with an imaginative “design your own country” task.

Oxford-based Travel Counsellor, Sallie Rudman, has signed up her three children to the summer activity programme. She said: “Juggling work and being mum can be tricky during the long summer holidays but TC Kids has really captured their imagination and enables me to provide a great service to my customers while my children are busy.”
The formula seems to be working. Travel Counsellors has constantly achieved a world beating score of over 90% for customer satisfaction using the Net Promoter Score system. The system, which is one of the most popular and world renowned methods to measure customer loyalty, asks Travel Counsellors’ customers one question – how likely it is that they would recommend the company to your friends and colleagues? Since adopting the NPS system three years ago, Travel Counsellors has far outpaced the majority of companies using this method to measure customer satisfaction.

Chairman David Speakman comments, “We are constantly thinking of new ways to help our Travel Counsellors to be the best in the travel industry. Along with the training, technology and support we provide, the TC Kids Summer Activity programme is another way we are helping our agents to do their jobs effectively and look after their customers, whilst at the same time involving their children in our company community.”

Sixth formers from Cedar Upper School in Leighton Buzzard visited St. Alloys school of Kisumu, Kenya to see first-hand how children their age live and are educated.

Following a tailor-made itinerary created by adventure holiday specialist Explore Worldwide, the once in a lifetime school trip included a 2 night stay in the Masai Mara Game Reserve, 5 days learning at St. Alloys school and a visit to the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. A joint school trip to Ndere Island, located off the northern shore of Lake Victoria also provided some of the Kenyan students with their very first experience of travelling by boat.

The link between the two schools was made possible by the work of PLAN, a UK based charity whose motto is “Bringing children together to bring about change” and the DFID (Department for International Development).

Travel Counsellors works with Plan UK in order to improve the standard of education for children in poverty stricken countries, helping them to realise their full potential and build a safe, healthy environment for them and their families.

Chairman David Speakman has visited a number of schools taking part in the educational linking project developed by Plan UK, which has been awarded £200,000 of funds from Travel Counsellors Ltd. The scheme aims to link 2000 schools in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the UK. It encourages children in the UK to examine their roles as global citizens, international issues such as education and poverty and how these subjects relate to their lives and the lives of children in developing nations.

David says, “We have been working closely with PLAN UK on several initiatives to improve the lives of children in the country. We will continue to keep in close contact with the charity and work with them to improve the current situation. We are proud as a company and as a family of Travel Counsellors to be able to help“.