British travel agents slash millennium holiday prices

Although British travel agents have reported lower-than-expected bookings for the Christmas and millennium holiday period, for Irish companies and consumers it's business as usual.

In Britain, unrealistic prices were set by many airlines and hotels during the holiday season. Now British-based long-haul travel agents are slashing prices for many destinations. From the outset, Irish companies provided travellers with a wider choice of reasonably priced options. However, last-minute travellers with a bit of luck may still find bargains across the water.

British-based Direct Holidays is not offering holidays to Irish consumers until the summer but says that in Britain, take-up for millennium and Christmas breaks have not been as great as people initially envisaged. "A lot of people want to stay at home with friends and family or they're undecided with what they want to do," says marketing director, Mr Robin Parry.

"I think some operators did price it a bit highly, but smart operators like us have prices in line with demand," he said.

Although most Irish travel brochures outline a "millennium premium" for the time period, the amount is low compared to that in other countries.

Falcon Holidays has a few seats for Christmas and the millennium period but these are always busy periods and it's no different than usual. They noted a resistance here to higher pricing for the holiday period.

"We looked at a realistic position and tried to reflect the actual cost increase over that period. The extra cost over the millennium is £100-£150 (€126.97-€190.46), which is nowhere near what the UK may have been doing," said marketing director, Mr Damien Mooney.

Irish consumers do not seem to be taken in by the hype. "I think a lot of people are seeing through this millennium thing," says Joe Walsh Tours spokesman, Mr Barry Walsh. The travel company's prices increased only slightly over 1998 and its booking numbers are similar to last year's. "There are people who go away during the Christmas-New Year's period every year and are doing the same thing this year," he said. The only change is that people are now booking their holidays well in advance compared to a few years ago.

Budget Travel still has some availability over the Christmas period but said in general it was "choc-a-bloc" for the millennium. Fear of flying over the millennium's eve is not really a consideration for the company's customers. "Most flights are flying around that time and not on the day itself," said a spokeswoman.

American Holidays says millennium flying hasn't been a problem for their customers. "It's probably because people are taking long holidays of two or three weeks over the Christmas-New Year period," says spokeswoman Ms Ciara Corcoran. Florida is the company's number one destination and although there is some availability and a good number of flights leaving from Ireland, accommodation is proving very difficult to get over the period.