Tuesday 7 June 2011

Door2Tour.com reports sales increase for cruise holidays

Website tour consolidator, Door2Tour.com,has released new figures showing cruise holidays are proving more popular in 2011, reporting an impressive sales increase of 308% in bookings for cruise holidays compared on the same period last year.

The findings reflect research from the Passenger Shipping Authority, which shows that at least one in nine package holidays taken was a cruise holiday with 40% or more of all cruises departing from a British port.

It is believed shorter cruise breaks will prove popular during 2011 and Door2Tour.com agreed with this, after it noticed mini cruises account for at least 45% of all cruise holiday bookings taken so far this year, followed by 33% for high-value ocean cruises and 22% for river cruises. This in turn has seen prices fall with the average cruise holiday costing under £1000 last year.

The research goes against the belief cruise holidays are only preferred by older generations, showing at least 21% were aged 25-30 when they went on their first cruise holiday. Families are starting to see the benefits involved with cruise holidays and are opting to venture onto ships and travel the ocean rather than stick to a traditional package holiday. Ships like the 'Epic' and 'Oasis of the Seas' are providing holiday resorts on the open seas with their integral shopping malls, aqua parks, outdoor amphitheatres and much more.

Northern Europe appears a top destination for cruise holiday enthusiasts with itineraries for cruising The Baltics and Norwegian Fjords the most popular. The Caribbean remains the hot favourite with at least 8% opting for cruise holidays to explore its many islands like St Lucia, Barbados and Cuba.

It's not just cruise holidays that have seen a surge in popularity this year; revenue for UK coach holidays is up 39% while European coach breaks are up 46% compared on the same period in 2010.
Rachel Jones, Online PR & Marketing Co-ordinator, with Door2Tour.com said: "It ooks like cruise holidays are the way to go this holiday season if our recent sales figures are anything to go by.

“Households are facing a number of financial hurdles this year what with the high cost of living and salaries stagnating, therefore many are considering carefully what to do when it comes to their annual holidays in 2011."

Door2Tour.com has also noticed some coach breaks that were popular in 2010 are declining in interest, especially London theatre breaks with sales revenues down some 18%. It's thought people are viewing London theatre breaks as luxury expenditure and are opting to abandon this idea in favour of ploughing their hard-earned cash into their main holiday for 2011.

Rachel concluded: "Cruise holidays are increasing in popularity this year as people begin to notice how much money they can save with this great-value holiday option. The benefit of cruise holidays is that everything is included in one price so people do not have to worry about funding for meals, drinks, entertainment and excursions - all they need to take is spending money should they want a souvenir or two to remember their holiday by."

FACTFILE:

www.Door2Tour.com is a consolidation of national and regional tour operators creating a diverse choice of UK coach holidays, European and worldwide touring holidays including Paris city breaks, London city breaks, events packages and holidays by air to many exciting destinations. All have live availability and offer the customer the opportunity to book online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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