Holiday Sales up in Gloucester to Escape British Summer

The washout British summer with its lack of sunshine and record rainfall has helped to fuel a rise in sales at a Gloucester travel agents.

Local people fed up with the gloom at home are looking to escape to warmer climes to enjoy blue skies and higher temperatures instead of the unseasonable climate here.

The Midcounties Co-op Travel branch in Eastgate Street believes the need to get away for a sunshine break is one of the key factors in a boom in business.

It saw sales increase by 15% last week to £250,000 worth of bookings compared with the same period last year. Sales in June were also up by 15% over June last year.

Branch Manager Joe Teixeira said: “The increase is probably down to a number of factors. But there is no denying that more and more people who are coming in to book holidays are mentioning that they need something to cheer themselves up because of our poor summer.

“Many customers feel it is the only way to guarantee some much needed sunshine and to have a chance to pull on their shades and shorts instead of reaching for their brollies.

“Times may be tough but the need for a relaxing holiday has become more important as the dull grey days have continued without much of a let-up.

“We are seeing the most growth in holiday destinations which are traditional favourites – Majorca, Tenerife, the Costa Del Sol and Portugal. They have the summer sun people want and it will not take too many hours to get there.”

Midcounties Co-op Travel, the locally owned, independent travel agency, has a network of branches, including ones at Cheltenham, Lydney and Cinderford and also an online business www.cooptravel.co.uk

It has embarked on a strategy of rapid growth and has ambitions to be the best independent retailer in the country with an unrivalled reputation for customer service and expertise and with co-operative values at its core.

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Notes to Editors
The Midcounties Co-operative has its headquarters in Warwickshire, with trading outlets in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and the surrounding counties.

The Society’s trading groups are food retail, funeral, travel, pharmacy, childcare nurseries, employee benefits and energy. The Midcounties Co-operative is the largest independent co-operative society in the UK and has more than 470 branches, and 245,000 active trading members. It is in The Sunday Times Best 25 Big Companies To Work For list for the second year running.

The Society's mission statement is 'To be a successful consumer co-operative working towards creating a better, fairer world, and to enhance the lives of our colleagues, members, customers, and the communities we serve'.

For more details call Lorna Bishop at Seal on 0121 616 5800. Visit www.midcounties.coop

The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives, highlighting the contribution of co-operatives to socio-economic development, particularly their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will highlight the strengths of the co-operative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socio-economic development.

About The Midcounties Co-operative Travel

Co-operative Travel offer a variety of holidays, flights and hotels. They are providers of last minute holidays, as well as late cruise deals and city breaks in Europe.