On The Beach sees surge in demand for summer getaways with city breaks proving a hit

Travel firm On The Beach has seen an increase in demand for summer getaways, with its new city break packages proving a hit among holidaymakers.

The company reported a 10% sales boost from October to February 23 compared to the same time last year, including an 18% uptick over the winter months. Notably, advance bookings for the summer season have also risen by 10%, with a 17% surge from March through June.

These figures seem to buck the trend seen by some other travel companies like German operator Tui, which noted a slowdown in summer booking growth earlier in February. Meanwhile, Ryanair has had to cut some of its routes, pointing the blaming governments for hiking aviation taxes and charges.

On The Beach, on the other hand, has been pouring resources into expanding its city break package offerings over the past year, now accepting bookings for over 70 cities. The UK-based retailer specialises in short and medium haul deals across Europe, bundling both flights and hotel stays into its packages.

The company also highlighted "good progress" on a new range of package holidays from the Republic of Ireland. This follows On The Beach's partnership with Ryanair last year, allowing it to include the budget airline's flights in its packages.

CEO Shaun Morton commented: "Demand for cities has been strong with routes to Amsterdam, Paris and Krakow proving particularly popular with both existing and new customers Similarly, our first marketing campaign in the Republic of Ireland has generated strong bookings growth across both city and beach.

"The success of these early-stage strategic initiatives combined with the growth in our core beach proposition give me the confidence that summer 25 will be significantly ahead of summer 24."