AITO Members Confident of a Great 2011
A survey of the UK's independent travel agents revealed a flying start to the year and renewed confidence in the prospects for 2011.
The poll, carried out for the Association of Independent Travel Operators (AITO), found that the year so far has seen thousands of UK holidaymakers booking their cheap flights to Europe and beyond, and cheap hotels for when they get there. Some 62 per cent of respondents for the AITO survey declared themselves to be "extremely" confident about sales throughout the year, with 46 per cent saying that sales for January thus far have been "good" or "extremely good".
This itself followed what AITO Specialist Travel Agents chairman Oliver Broad described as "an encouraging rise in bookings in 2010". The survey showed that nearly three quarters of independent travel operators enjoyed a year-on-year increase in enquiries, and 57 per cent said that bookings had also increased.
Commenting on the poll, AITO chairman Derek Moore admitted that a good start to 2011 compared with the same period the previous year was unsurprising, given how badly sales had started in 2010. However, he insisted: "The omens are good. The level of sales is better than in 2007 and that is heartening. Two years ago, it was all gloom."
Last weekend, the association's Domestic Agents Conference agreed on a new "kite mark" to be displayed by members in order to give customers confidence when booking their cheap holidays with AITO operators. The new logo will be shown on windows and websites alongside the familiar ABTA and ATOL logos.
In order to explain the purpose of the logo, Mr Broad said: "The aim is to create a kite mark easily identifiable by consumers – a mark of quality when maybe others are confusing. There are so many logos out there."
General Travel News posted by 
on 20 January 2011
cheap flights, cheap flights to Europe, cheap hotels, cheap holidays
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/01/20/35827/agents+see+january+bookings+soar.html
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/01/17/35786/aito+2011+aito+agents+unveil+kite+mark+logo+to+reassure+consumers.html
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