European holiday posts unleash massive rush on bookings for 2024 season

The flood of social media posts out of Europe has triggered a rush on 2024 bookings as travellers take advantage of lower airfares.

Outdoor dining on the island of Mykonos which is one of the hottest European destinations for Australian travellers Picture: Alamy

The Australian rush on Europe for the northern summer has unleashed a massive outbreak of FOMO (or fear of missing out) resulting in a huge surge of forward bookings for 2024.

Travel agents said the constant stream of pictures and stories on social media sites from Aussies holidaying in Europe was the best marketing they could imagine.

Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Dean Long said people seeing their peers overseas reinforced that it was safe and affordable to travel.

“They might be wary of a TV ad or some other marketing but when they see friends’ pictures it reinforces that these places are as good as they look elsewhere,” Mr Long said.

“That’s driving people into our stores and on to our sites which is exciting.”

He said more moderate airfares were helping to fuel the charge to Europe although in a lot of cases, money was no object.

“There’s a FOMO factor — fear of missing out — after people saw their friends or colleagues there in the last European summer,” said Mr Long.

“We always said even prior to the pandemic, travel wasn’t discretionary. Travel has always been up there with mortgage, health and education in terms of its importance. It’s just who we are and it’s part of our mental health and wellbeing and that’s what is driving it.”

Greece, Italy and Croatia were attracting the most interest from travellers, aided by images of sparkling clear water, blue skies, exquisite landscapes and mouth-watering food.

Spectacular travel pictures of destinations such as Dubrovnik in Croatia have Australians rushing to book a northern summer holiday for 2024.

TripADeal co-founder Norm Black said the Instagram and Facebook “eye candy” posts were having an extraordinary effect on forward bookings.

“We love what goes on when people travel. The green eyes come out pretty heavily when they see their friends posting from these beautiful locations,” Mr Black said.

“We’ve had an enormous uplift in European bookings for next year. The Amalfi Coast is getting an incredible surge and the Greek Islands have been well and truly prominent for a while. Croatia and those places have really taken off as well.”

Webjet data showed the advantage of booking ahead with airfares for next year’s northern summer dramatically cheaper than those for even the tail end of the 2023 peak season.

In several instances the difference was as much as a $1000 for a return flight in economy on a full service carrier such as Qantas, Qatar or Emirates.

“People understand the earlier you book the better the deal you’re going to get and that’s driving those early forward bookings now,” said Mr Long.

“It also shows that Covid is not a thing anymore. No-one is nervous about booking well in advance.”

Although crowds at some destinations such as Portofino and Mykonos had been likened to the “Royal Easter Show on steroids”, Mr Long said numbers were actually down on pre-Covid.

“It is interesting because China still isn’t travelling,” he said.

“So while there are more Europeans, Americans and Australians travelling we’re still not back to those same numbers as we saw prior to the pandemic, so it is busy but you can still find those little gems that you’re after if you’re talking to the right people and have the right adviser on your team.”

The picturesque harbor of Portofino, an Italian fishing village, is also a favourite of Aussie travellers.

There was concern that the early rush on European bookings for next year could see airfares climb again due the ongoing capacity issues in and out of Australia.

Mr Long joined Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner in slamming the federal government decision to deny Qatar Airway’s additional bilateral air rights.

“We need more airlines flying here. There’s huge built-up demand both outbound and into Australia and if that demand continues to surge we’re going to see those record high prices return,” said Mr Long.

“Supply is really a key element here.”

Originally published as European holiday posts unleash massive rush on bookings for 2024 season