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Travel Republic Press Release - 19th June 2008 - For Immediate Release

TRAVEL BOOM IN MAY RETAIL BONANZA

THE TRAVEL industry was one of the big winners during May’s record retail spending spree in the UK with sales up almost 40% for online travel agency TravelRepublic.co.uk.

TravelRepublic.co.uk saw sales for May 2008 soar by 38% compared to the same period last year, indicating that holidays are one of the last things to be forsaken by Britons struggling through the credit crunch.

Indications are that the surge in travel bookings has gained even more momentum since the start of June, with sales between June 1 and June 18 up 44% for TravelRepublic.co.uk against the same period last year.

In May, overall retail sales rose by 3.5% in the UK, shocking analysts and the Bank of England and highlighting fears of higher interest rates.

Unsurprisingly it was destinations outside the Euro-zone which drove the growth for TravelRepublic.co.uk with sales for Tunisia increasing by 157% in May against the prior year. Sales for Turkey and Egypt both grew by 139% and the weak dollar led to an 81% increase in bookings to the USA.

Managing director Paul Furner said: “When you couple somewhere with a climate as erratic as the UK and the fact that the British are among the most over-worked employees in the world, it comes as no real surprise that people are still making holiday plans despite the economic gloom. The British public love their holidays and will not surrender them easily - we are seeing sales pick up enormously as customers come online to save money.”

And it’s not just sales for this summer which are soaring – winter bookings made between May 1 and June 18 have increased by 54% for TravelRepublic.co.uk, against the same time last year, and bookings for next summer are almost double (97%) that of the same period last year.

Furner said: “This could be because canny consumers who are expecting the pound to weaken further against the Euro are booking now to avoid higher prices later in the year or in 2009.”

“A recent report by the Confederation of British Industry confirmed that the British public are still keen to book holidays despite the credit crunch and ongoing financial worries. Travel was the only consumer services sector to report growth in the first three months of 2008 which illustrates just how important our annual break is – particularly in such a tough economic climate.”

Notes to editors:

For more media information contact Louise Prior at Prior PR on 07786 227572 or louise@priorpr.com.

About TravelRepublic.co.uk

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