A NORTH Wales travel boss has revealed there’s a massive demand for sunshine holidays with bookings up by 25 per cent on pre-Covid levels.

According to Wrexham-based Hays Travel North West managing director Don Bircham, January is the peak period for the industry with families desperate to escape the cold, wet and gloomy weather.

This year the numbers are 25 per cent up on January 2020 – two months before Covid lockdown hit in March that year – as customers beat a path to the doors of their 47 shops across North Wales and the North West on the first Saturday of the New Year.

The fast-growing company also has stores in Flint, Mold, Connah's Quay, Prestatyn, Rhyl and Colwyn Bay.

READ MORE: Lucky man from Clwyd wins a whopping £242,000 on The National Lottery

Don, who opened his first travel shop in Mold 22 years ago, said: “The first Saturday of the year is traditionally a big day for us and for the travel business across the country but this has been phenomenal.

“January is one month when there are no holidays for staff and we even suspend our training programme for the month to make sure we are fully staffed for our customers.

“We are also seeing many former customers return to us – people who may have been booking on the internet are seeing the benefits in terms of safety and security of booking with a travel agent.

“There has never been a better time to book with low deposits and easy payment plans to spread the cost of the holiday from now up to eight weeks before you go while the big tour operators like Jet 2 Holidays, Easyjet Holidays and Tui are offering big discounts including free child places.”

Don added: “This is only the second year since we’ve been let loose again after the pandemic and people understandably want to stretch their wings again and fly off to somewhere sunny and welcoming.

“Seventy percent of the holidays we sell are for this summer, some people are already booking for summer 2024 and the rest are early season sunshine holidays, mainly for couples and to places like the Canaries, Dubai and Florida."