Members of the Coach Tourism Association say that 2025 is looking better than last year, with equivalent bookings and sales up
The Coach Tourism Association’s latest survey of coach operator and wholesaler members has reported an upturn for 2025, reflecting improved market conditions and increased positivity among members. Insights also suggest strength in continental tours and premium products, says the Association.
The review of market conditions invited various industry stakeholders to respond about current and future business prospects. Looking at the sector right now, Caroline Thorpe, Marketing Manager at Leger Shearings, said: “Sales are seeing double-digit growth over the prior year, with Shearings – specifically UK sales – trading significantly ahead of the market.”
Sharing a positive outlook for current conditions, Head of Holidays at Skills Neil Leavesley commented: “We’ve had a really good start to the year and in Q2 we are showing a 20% increase in both revenue and sales.” Adding his thoughts, Sean Taggart of Leisuretime by Toureasy said: “2025 has started strongly for us and we expect deposited sales for travel this year to be up by around 30% by the end of April compared with the same point in 2024. This follows a similar year-on-year increase in 2024 compared to 2023 and consolidates a trend of rapid and consistent sales growth.”
In further feedback, Acklams Coaches said that its UK door-to-door holidays programme has seen a year-on-year increase in bookings of 20% for the start of 2025, Albatross Travel pointed to its first quarter figures being up in both sales and average loadings compared to last year, and Motts Leisure said its day trips are up 15% compared to last year.
While 2024 saw a renaissance in the European tour market, this trend also continues to grow in 2025 according to CTA members. “We invested significantly in an increased programme to Europe in 2025 and this is delivering a good proportion of our year-on-year sales growth. Austria and Italy are proving particularly popular,” said Sean at Leisuretime, whilst Head of Sales at Albatross Travel Louise Fitzpatrick said: “A key driver of this growth is the ongoing resurgence in continental tours, which have seen a 7% year on year increase, supported by increased load factors. This reflects growing consumer confidence, even in the face of operational challenges at the ports.”
Despite the barriers and lack of certainty regarding cross-border travel, Acklams also reports 12% growth in European travel.
Some operators also report that demand for premium-level travel is also strong. “At Luxuria, Leger Holiday’s business-class equivalent brand, demand is at its highest ever, with sales up 19% year-on-year, showing customers’ growing desire for exclusive business-class comfort on the road,” said Caroline Thorpe. Looking at the forecast for the rest of this year, expectations are optimistic says the CTA. “Overall, the outlook for the remainder of 2025 remains positive, with full year travelled sales forecast to rise by 4%,” added Louise Fitzpatrick, whilst Skills Holidays reports bookings for August to be up 30% on last year.
Crusader Holidays also reports that prospects are good for the remainder of the year, and into 2026. “Looking ahead to the end of the year, business is doing well, with early bookings for 2026 well up again this year,” said General Manager Phil Vockins. “It is the third year in a row that early bookings have been up and we are currently 40% up on this time last year.” Leger Shearings says that sales for 2026 are currently 20% ahead of where it was at the same point in 2024, but alongside strong forward bookings, a continuing trend is late bookings the CTA found.
“Overall, we have seen an increasingly late booking trend for all destinations, so our advance booking situation is even more encouraging given how much there is still to play for in 2025,” says Sean at Leisuretime. This view is supported by Neil at Skills, who added: “What is clear is the late booking market is especially strong, therefore we need to ensure we’re able to react to that and we work closely with our suppliers to enable us to capture this section of the market – we’ve seen certain products double in sales within six weeks of departure.”
CTA Chair Robert Shaw is positive about the industry’s outlook. “The latest reports from our members are extremely positive for the current market, the year ahead, and into 2026,” he said. “The coach tourism sector is performing strongly, both for UK trips and tours, as well as the resurgence in continental holidays. This not
only shows consumer spending confidence, but also reflects attitudes about the quality of the experience that coach tourism can provide.”
