MORE and more Slovaks choose their Christmas holiday and New Year’s trips on collective shopping websites. As in previous years, the demand for coupons in the travelling and holidays sector has increased during the pre-Christmas period, said the Slovak Association of Portals of Collective Shopping (SAPKN), as cited by the TASR newswire.
“Traditionally, stays in the High and Low Tatras and wellness stays in other Slovak destinations linked with thermal spas are very popular this season,” said Marián Tar, spokesperson of SAPKN, as cited by TASR, adding that sales of trips with skiing options have become popular too.
Customers who are interested in sports and outdoor activities can choose from among offers of free alpine skiing, ice climbing or climbing the Gerlach peak with a mountain guide.
Out of trips abroad, there is currently a lot of interest in pre-holiday trips to Christmas markets in Prague, Krakow, Budapest and in various towns in Austria, Germany and Italy.
According to Tar, the sale of coupons for New Year’s stays in Slovakia as well as abroad is starting. Slovaks, for example, like to spend the end of the year in Paris, Monaco, Rome and other European metropolises.
The association expects the holiday season will fuel interest in shopping, as people are increasingly using online collective shopping sites for their Christmas shopping.
The statistics of the Zlavomat.sk group buying website confirms increasing interest in buying trips and holidays via group buying websites, with 50,000 people having bought summer holidays through such sites this year.
“In general we have registered an almost 60-percent increase in the turnover in the sector of travelling this year,” said Tomáš Sroka, the director of Zlavomat.sk, as cited by TASR. “In the first three quarters we have already achieved the same result as during the whole of 2012.”
Croatia was the most popular foreign destination, while for domestic trips most clients bought stays in the Tatras.
Touristic regions benefit from collective shopping, too.
“Each tourist is a plus,” said Lenka Maťašovská, the executive director of the destination management organisation in the High Tatras, as cited by TASR. “If collective shopping websites secure a higher number of visitors in our resorts, especially now, i.e. between [the main] seasons, one could only welcome it.”
