City travel agents under pressure from ‘the great escape’

The poor Irish summer has created a flurry of demand for holidays to the sun, but the city’s travel agents are struggling with low supply and high prices.

Maura Fahy of Fahy Travel on Bridge Street has seen a large number of people seeking to get away from the rain immediately.

“I haven’t seen anything like it in six years, since we had as bad an August, weatherwise – holidays are flying out the door,” she told the Galway City Tribune.

“People are taking what they can get, but most of the charters are full, right into September.

“We have that on a regular basis – people who were planning to take a holiday in Ireland, but are now looking to get away.

“The schools are opening again in three weeks, people who haven’t had any sun see the Winter coming, and they want to get out of the country.”

The main holiday destinations are sold out, but there is limited availability in Turkey, Portugal, Morocco, and Fuerteventura.

With charter flights sold out, Fahy Travel has been booking ‘tailor-made’ holidays, ie. flights and accommodation separately, for clients but have found the demand has resulted in exorbitant prices being charged for basic accommodation.

The demand has been at such a high rate all summer that it is two weeks since the agency sold out its stock for the October Bank Holiday weekend.

“We would normally not start taking bookings until the end of August,” Maura adds.

Colm McDonagh of 1 Stop Travel in Eyre Square agrees that the poor summer is pushing up demand.

“If the weather is good you rarely see the mad rush that’s underway now, as people are normally more concerned with buying books and uniforms – last August we couldn’t give holidays away,” he says.

It is a similar story for Corrib Travel, where staff have been inundated with request for last minute sun holidays.

“We have had people who were hoping to stay in Ireland, or wait for a last-minute sun deal, which did not happen this year,” says manager, Clodagh Connolly.

“People were expecting to be quoted May prices, which never happens in July and August anyhow, but the Irish weather dictated the rush, panic, and desperation for some Vitamin D.

“Already, this week, we had families booking for Summer 2016 – they don’t want to be left behind and washed away next year.”

For more on the ‘summer’ exodus, see this week’s Galway City Tribune