Booming holiday demand saw Hays Travel book its strongest ever trading year, with transaction values doubling to top 拢2bn.
The Sunderland firm, which launched from a single shop in Seaham in 1980 and now operates 470 retail branches alongside its website, has published the record figures for the year ended April 30 2023, showing turnover increasing from 拢219.4m to 拢423.5m, while total transaction values rocketed 103% from 拢1.07bn to 拢2.19bn. The company said the exceptional growth was driven by a readiness for travel following years of lockdown, key destinations opening at the peak holiday booking time, as well as customers seeking the reassurance and expertise of its travel agents.
The company employed an average of 3,197 people across the 海角视频 in the period, having expanded homeworking and franchise divisions, and added more Independence Group members, where Hays provides back-office expertise and support. That figure has since risen following three acquisitions to the group following the year end.
As well as existing customers returning to travel, 41% of those booking holidays in the last year were new to both Hays Travel and the Thomas Cook shops that Hays Travel acquired in 2019 鈥 a figure that grew from pre-covid levels of 19%.
Chair Dame Irene Hays said: 鈥淥ur 2022-23 results show good growth in all areas of the business. A significant factor in this was the speed with which consumer confidence returned post-pandemic. Across the communities we serve around the 海角视频 there is a huge appetite for travel and experiences 鈥 people want to invest in precious time exploring,
鈥淓arly in 2022-23 restrictions were still evident in some destinations, however we were well prepared to take advantage of the 鈥榖ounce back鈥 as the year progressed, which is evident in our financial results.
鈥淎fter the uncertainty and challenges of recent years, it鈥檚 been reassuring to see more confidence and stability in travel in 2022/23. This buoyant year has enabled us to invest in our strategic priorities 鈥 our customer experience, our people, and the communities where we operate. We have continued to expand our retail network and are pleased to have seen growth in our homeworking, franchise, and Independence Group divisions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 testament to our customers and our people that we begin 2024 in such a positive position, having ended 2023 voted the nation鈥檚 favourite travel agent when we won three gold awards at the British Travel Awards for travel retail, cruise, and foreign exchange.鈥
Looking ahead, Dame Irene said: 鈥淲e will not have that same level of bounce back, it was that latent demand coming out of Covid which flattered our results last year. We have to be honest and realistic - last year was exceptional. But I have to say we have just had the two best weekends ever in the history of Hays Travel this January which is the peak period for holiday booking, when people鈥檚 sentiment moves from toys and food over Christmas to travel, and what they are going to be doing for the year ahead.
鈥淪o whilst I don鈥檛 think the results in this year are going to be as spectacular I really do believe it will be a strong year.鈥
Dame Irene said the holiday boom will this year by aided by top suppliers Jet2 Holidays, Tui and easyJet Holidays putting 27% additional capacity into the 2024 summer market. There has also been an explosion in cruise bookings, driven by more ships finally entering the waters, having seen construction plans falter during Covid.
She added: 鈥淗ays Travel has been built on the quality and contribution of the people who work in the company 鈥 they are the company, and the success of Hays Travel is their success.鈥
