Long-haul focus lifts First Choice

First Choice Holidays, the tour operator, today hailed its increased focus on long-haul holidays as it reported a surge in early bookings.

The group, whose brands include Unijet, Falcon and Sovereign, said the move helped it record a 20 per cent hike in bookings for next summer and a 7 per cent increase in reservations for this winter.

First Choice said in an update ahead of full-year results that annual trading would be in line with expectations.

The company has been concentrating on selling medium and long-haul holidays in a bid to overcome tough competition in its sector.

It said long-haul bookings for this winter were 26 per cent ahead of this time last year, while summer reservations were 57 per cent higher – although it was still very early to predict trends this far ahead.

Meanwhile, bookings for medium-term trips were up 13 per cent higher for the winter and 30 per cent higher for the summer.

During the past year, revenues at the activity holidays arm were…