On The Beach sees record winter bookings as Britons seek winter sun – ET TravelWorld

UK based holiday package provider On The Beach on Tuesday said that winter bookings are at record levels, driven by strong demand for sunny getaways, while it also expects a substantial increase in summer 2025 sales. Shares of the London-listed company were up 11.9 per cent by 1020 GMT.

Consumers continue to prioritise spending on holidays even as inflationary pressures squeeze broader discretionary expenditure.

“Winter ’24 volumes are…up 25 per cent year on year, as customers seek winter sun or a European city break, and we anticipate Summer ’25 to be significantly ahead of (2024), with bookings to date supporting this,” CEO Shaun Morton said in a statement.

Easyjet has also benefited from its lucrative package holiday business and said last week it expected to fly more passengers in the year to end-September 2025, with increased capacity to winter sun destinations such as North Africa and the Canary Islands.

On The Beach reported a 25 per cent rise in adjusted profit before tax to 31 million pounds ( USD39.3 million) for the year ended Sept. 30, also helped by its partnership with budget airline Ryanair.

The company, which announced a share buyback of up to 25 million pounds, has added city breaks to its offering and in July launched the sale of package holidays for customers in Ireland. Estimating the size of the Irish market at about 15 per cent of that of the UK, On The Beach said it was confident of a meaningful increase in volumes in its 2025 financial year. Peel Hunt analysts said that they expect rapid success in the market for city breaks.