Couples with families are booking earlier than ever for holiday packages for summer 2002 due to huge demand and the variety of promotional incentives on offer, according to travel agents.

Tour operators have been fine-tuning their offerings for next summer even before this summer has officially ended. Summer 2002 brochures from major operators such as Budget Travel, Panorama Holidays and Falcon Travel are already on travel agents' shelves. According to some agents, the rush for bookings has begun in earnest, with as many as 15 per cent of the packages on offer already booked in some cases.

Mr Brendan Moran, chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA), confirms that there is an "increasing trend towards early bookings", thanks to greater demand for holiday packages. "The people who would book a year in advance are those for whom budgetary constraints are an important consideration," he said.

Indeed, most agents agree that it is couples with young children who almost exclusively lead the current rush, a factor reflected in operators' recently released offerings.

Falcon Holidays was first with its earliest ever release of its summer brochures on June 29th, almost a month ahead on last year. A spokeswoman for the company said that 40,000 summer places were booked on that day.

"There is a strong early booking mentality in Ireland and it is true to say that some people are even looking to book next year's holiday before they depart on their 2001 break," said Ms Charlotte Brenner, Falcon marketing manager.

"Many people like to go on holiday in the comfortable knowledge that next year's holiday is safely booked and that the best deals won't be gone by the time they return home."

Budget Travel released details of some of its summer 2002 offerings on July 12th under the title "Just For Families". Managing director Mr Eugene Corcoran says the company will seek to identify properties quickly in popular short-haul destinations such as Spain, Portugal and Greece, that are not only child-friendly but provide extensive entertainment on site for children.

Sales are already 15 per cent ahead of the same period last year, says Mr Corcoran, which, considering the company has fewer products on offer this year, is "satisfactory". The company has decided to focus on families for advance summer bookings this year.

He confirms that families are more determined to "get what they want, when they want", with some bookings made up to 14 months in advance.

"This would have been unheard of five years ago."

Mr Corcoran adds that even individuals or couples are starting to book earlier, although usually not until September, when brochures targeting them are released.

The general principle that the earlier you book the more likely you are to get the destination of your choice still applies but well-organised customers will also have come to appreciate the savings and special offers that are available to them with advance bookings.

Panorama Holidays published its summer 2002 brochure on August 8th, a week earlier than the previous year. Like Budget Travel, the brochure is aimed primarily at families but also accommodates older couples. Marketing manager Mr Eamon Quinn says that sales for summer 2002 were already well in excess of what they were at the same time in 2000 and estimated that 40 per cent of bookings for next summer would have been made by October.

Like Falcon and Budget, Panorama is promoting special offers for people who book early, including free child places, two weeks for the price of one, free travel insurance, free group places, low booking deposits and an additional £50 (63.50) discount per adult couple. Mr Quinn claims savings of £500 on an average family holiday (two adults, two children) as a result of special offers.

The other advantage of booking early, of course, is that if the package is upgraded or the price goes up anytime between the period of booking and the date of departure - as often happens - this cost is not passed on to those who booked early.

On the other hand, things may go wrong in the intervening period. Mr Moran of the ITAA says taking out travel insurance will ensure that any problems will not adversely affect the customer's booking.