Whether the weather cools bookings
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As we bask in a glorious summer, there has been much talk of late about our favourite subject, the weather. There is no nation on earth that enjoys commenting on the weather like the British. Perhaps it is because, unlike many other countries, we have such changeable weather patterns. I don’t suppose too many locals in the UAE poke their head out of a morning and remark to a passer-by: “Turned out nice again.” We complain there’s no sun when it rains and that there is no rain when the sun shines.
In the travel industry, the weather is often at fault, too. If it rains, then bookings are impacted because everyone stayed in and didn’t go to the high street; and when the sun comes out, no one is buying because everyone is in the garden.
July certainly was an extraordinary month, with 289 hours of sunshine and maximum average temperature at Heathrow of 27 degrees. In the last 100 years, only one July has been sunnier and only five have been hotter.
So what was the impact on cruise bookings? Well, from what I can see here at Fred’s, there is no correlation at all between weather and bookings.
July 2013 saw a 66% increase in sun and 64% decrease in rain over July 2012, so if the theory that bookings decrease when it’s hot and not raining holds water, so to speak, then we would expect to see a decline in bookings for Summer departures. Not so. Here at Fred.s, we witnessed a 35% increase in summer 2013 bookings (as well as for all bookings for all departures).
Looking at July 2012, there was just 161 hours of sunshine (-7% versus 2011) and 71mm of rain (+45 versus 2011), so bookings should have increased versus the previous year, given that the month was colder and wetter than the month before. But again, no; sales in July 2012 for summer 2012 were actually -10%.
I know that this isn’t the most comprehensive of research and I’m sure there must be a young graduate somewhere who may have studied tourism and can properly answer the question. However, for me, it shows that – come rain or shine – you can’t beat a strong consumer proposition backed up by extensive distribution.
Right offer, right time, right place.”
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