Saga cruises given a lift by older holidaymakers

Saga has been given a lift by older holidaymakers booking cruises months in advance while rivals are hit by younger travellers taking longer to commit. In separate updates yesterday, over-50s specialist Saga and On The Beach, which typically caters for a younger crowd, both reported healthy bookings for the winter.

But while Saga has enjoyed strong demand for next year, On The Beach warned bookings for summer 2026 remain slow as customers wait until closer to the date of departure. Industry experts said workers in the early stages of their careers and young families are tending to delay bookings amid concerns over jobs and finances – particularly with a painful Budget looming.

One source said: ‘We are hearing a lot about people booking later. But the Saga customer tends to be more affluent, has more time on their hands and wants the certainty that comes with booking well in advance.’ Saga said 51 per cent of berths are already booked on its ocean cruises for next year with the Caribbean, Norwegian fjords and Europe proving popular.

Customers are paying on average an all-inclusive rate of £437 a day for these trips. Interest is also growing in its holidays, which focus on hotels rather than cruises, with specialist trips such as food and wine, archaeology or bird watching. ‘Our customers book very early. So we’ve already got a significant amount of next year’s holidays booked,’ said Saga chief executive Mike Hazell.

‘They have more disposable income and they’re more resilient to short-term economic volatility.’ Saga returned to the black, posting first-half profits of £3.7million for the six months to the end of July, having lost £116.9million in the same period last year. Revenues at the firm, which also has an insurance arm, rose 9 per cent to £328.2million while it cut debts to £515.1million from £617.2million.

Saga shares rose 6.7 per cent, or 14.5p, to 231.5p, taking gains in the past year to 117 per cent. By contrast, shares in On The Beach tumbled 20.4 per cent, or 52.5p, to 205p after it warned profits for the year to the end of September would be lower than expected, at between £34.5million and £35.5million. The City was expecting £38.4million. Bookings over the summer were 12 per cent higher than last year while winter bookings are up 12 per cent.

But, turning to summer 2026, it warned of a ‘later booking trend… with bookings being made increasingly closer to the date of departure’. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said: ‘With the Budget around the corner, it is probable that customers are waiting and seeing before committing to next year’s holiday.’ On The Beach chief executive Shaun Morton put on a brave face, saying: ‘It remains clear that customers are still prioritising their holidays with our winter bookings up 12 per cent and we are confident that Summer 2026 will continue to build.’

The comments echoed those of Jet2 boss Steve Heapy who this month said the ‘booking closer to departure trend’ has become more pronounced. Keith Bowman, an analyst at Interactive Investor, said: ‘Saga’s focus on the over-50s may be assisting forward booking trends. Easing mortgage rates , in contrast to rising rents, are likely to be assisting the older demographic.’