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the review
Agents & cruise in vogue
New West End shows from Shearings Shearings Holidays has added six new shows to its London theatre breaks progamme, to give it a total of 15. The recently added shows are Book of Mormon, &Juliet, Hairspray, Pretty Woman, The Prince of Egypt and Mary Poppins. Shearings is taking bookings for its two-day breaks up to December 2020. They include a Saturday matinee ticket, one night’s B&B and coach travel, with prices from £139. “We wanted to make sure we were providing as much choice as possible, offering agents a go-to operator for theatre bookings,” says MD Jane Atkins. “These packages are especially good as Christmas gifts, so now is the time to start promoting them.” shearingsagent.com
BY LINSEY MCNEILL
The most digitally literate younger generations – Millennials and Generaton Z – are increasingly booking via travel agents rather than online. The association’s Holiday Habits Report 2019 showed that more than a third of 18 to 24 year olds used the services of a travel professional, compared with 31% last year, said ABTA. Young holidaymakers are also increasingly choosing cruise holidays according to the latest ABTA survey, which found that 28% of 18-24 years olds took a cruise in the 12 months to the end of July, up 6% year on year. The greatest growth in cruising came from youngsters, while the over 65s market grew just 2%. ABTA said the increasing diversity of cruise holidays and
Iberia customers flying from the UK to any of the airline’s 27 destinations in the Americas or Asia via Madrid can now enjoy a free stopover in the Spanish capital of up to six days. The ‘Hola Madrid’ programme also includes a range of discounted offers and deals, including at Madrid’s hotels, museums and restaurants and also on airport transfers. Clients looking to explore more of Spain benefit from 25% discounts on domestic flights with Iberia, Iberia Express or Iberia Regional/ Air Nostrum. Available on either the outward or return flight, the offer includes a free public transport card for two days and discounted car hire. iberia.com
Jet2 adds popular Greek island for 2020
Sponsored content – Travelpack TM
themed trips has contributed to their rise in popularity amongst Millennials. Overall, almost nine in 10 Britons took a holiday in the 12 months up to the end of July 2019, the highest figure since 2011, and 64% took an overseas trip, up from 60% last year. What’s more, foreign holidays of at least seven nights have increased slightly to an average of 1.1 per person, up from one per person in 2018 and 0.7 in 2016. While 84% of trips are to Europe, this is down from 87% last year and ABTA said cheaper flights were fuelling demand for longhaul travel. Four-star accommodation is now the most popular, with 55% of holidaymakers choosing it. abta.com
See more of Spain with Iberia
Explore Sri Lanka with Travelpack’s seven-night Glimpses of Sri Lanka tour from £1299pp on a B&B basis. Highlights: Bandaranaike, Minneriya National Park, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Udawalawe, Induruwa. Travel between July 1-11 2020. To book, call 0208 585 4020 or email: holidays@travelpack.com
Jet2holidays is to offer flights and holidays to the Greek island of Skiathos for the first time next summer. Flights will be available from Birmingham, Manchester and Stansted from May to September. Skiathos will be the second new Greek destination for Jet2 in 2020, following the addition of Preveza. It has also announced that it will add Zadar in Croatia and Tivat in Montenegro for next year. jet2.com
sellingtravel.co.uk
General News.indd 54
10/25/19 07:10 PM