YEAR-END travel demand is up, said travel agents who enjoyed record sales of about $40 million at the Natas fair over the weekend.
The three-day travel fair, which ended yesterday, also had a record number of attendees at 65,583, Mr Robert Khoo, chief executive officer of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore told my paper yesterday evening.
CTC Holidays said it had seen $10 million in sales, 35 per cent more than last year's fair, which was held in September.
ASA Holidays, meanwhile, said it was on track to hit $13 million in sales, compared to $10 million at last year's fair. SA Tours said its sales had gone up 38 per cent over last year, and Chan Brothers said it was likely to hit $13 million, compared to $12 million in sales last year.
Japan, Korea and Taiwan were some of the most sought-after destinations, the companies added.
To meet the demand, some agents will hold post-Natas fairs to woo those who may have missed out on the event.
ASA Holidays will hold a major fair on Aug 24 in Suntec City, and CTC will hold its own event from Aug 22 to 24 outside Carrefour in Suntec City.
Said CTC's senior vice-president for marketing and public relations Alicia Seah: "Natas is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many people who are still making their plans for year-end holidays."
Mr Khoo said: "We have never hit the 60,000 mark in any of our shows. This time, itlooks like we exceeded by quite a big margin.
"There is a pent-up demand for travel. The first half of the year was rather quiet, so we expected that many people would want to travel in the second half."
