Let me start by wishing you, our valued partner, and your loved ones a very happy new year. Let's make a toast to a successful year in business, but above all to good health for us all. We are looking forward to providing a superb holiday experience to record numbers of holiday makers this year!
Our customers are keen to book their holidays, despite high numbers of COVID cases at both our sales regions and destinations. This is obvious from traffic on our website, as well as booking numbers for this winter and the coming summer seasons. Over the christmas period, we saw people booking at the very last minute, and currently we see figures evenly spread out over the months of January-March.
For the summer months, we are seeing a good start to bookings from the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium. In Sweden and France, bookings are off to a slower start. It is yet too early to conclude anything about our individual destinations. We will update you about these numbers in March.
The early booking period is looking different than in other years. We did take this into account, and it is understandable. Booking numbers are getting off to a slower start, but we are looking at positive developments. People are fed up with being cooped up indoors and need a holiday to look forward to. I think we all do!
Our early booking campaign kicked off in December. As you read in our December Newsletter, we focused on a different kind of campaign this time around. We encourage people to envisage their best holiday memories and indicate how we can be a part of creating them.
Because of the pandemic, the trade fairs in Utrecht and Berlin were cancelled. A great shame: it would have been great to meet each other there. That's why Sunweb Group is organising an online event, about which we will tell you more soon. We are making great strides in the 'Partner' pillar within our dynamic strategy. There are many interesting developments taking place, and your input is essential!