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Travel sales have slumped to their lowest level since records began with British Airways strikes, the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud and economic uncertainty all adding to the sector's woes.
This year travel sales have fallen 10.7% to £22,386,597 (to 17th April) compared to the same period last year. This comes after sales in 2009 were down 26.8% on 2008. Turnover in 2010 is now at its lowest point since records began in 2001.
However, going against the trend were DK and Rough Guides. The Bookseller revealed a year ago that WHS Travel had signed a deal with Penguin to sell its foreign travel guides exclusively. Both Penguin and WHS declined to comment on how the deal has gone and for how much longer it will continue. However, both DK and Rough Guides have bucked the trend and experienced a rise in sales this year. DK has risen 2.6% and RG by 1.6%.
John Duhigg, DK deputy c.e.o., said the market was still "tough" but that he was not feeling too depressed. He added: "From our point of view, we're just concentrating on the core stuff and that's paying dividends."
Publishers hit by the sales drop said there were several factors behind slumping turnover. David Watchus, publisher at AA, said: "There is volcanic ash, the BA strikes and the World Cup [people waiting to holiday until after England get knocked out]." He added: "It's fair to say that any negative effect on the market is a concern, but we are hopeful that it is a matter of postponement of sales rather than lost sales. Time will tell."
Tom Hall, travel editor at Lonely Planet, said despite problems with flights and other issues in places such as Bangkok, where there were recent violent pro-democracy protests, "short-term events are less important than longer-term economic indicators". He added: "In difficult times travellers look to trusted sources for advice. However, if any of these, particularly the ash cloud, closed airspace for a longer period then it would have an impact. We're cautiously optimistic we're over the worst of disruption in time for summer." Hall said he predicted it would be a strong summer for domestic travel along with countries people can drive to such as France, Italy and Spain.
LP made free iPhone city guide apps available when the ash cloud originally hit and Hall said there had been a resultant uptake in other apps that were not being discounted.