The dismal weather this summer, and the realisation that a euro goes further on the Continent, have caused a surge in early bookings for sun holidays abroad next year, reports Iva Pocock.

'It's like putting your towel out on the beach first thing in the morning," says Bernadette Dawson, explaining the new trend of booking next year's holiday now. "It's crazy really, but more and more people are doing it."

Having just returned from a pretty disastrous holiday in the north of Majorca (it rained for the first three days, her teenage daughter Jenny got very sick and the apartment was tiny and full of ants), she is determined to get a good deal for next summer.

"The particular complex I've booked in Torremolinos was recommended as a good place for teen- agers," she says. "It was in lots of the brochures, but I just managed to get a place there through Budget Travel."

She is one of tens of thousands who have already paid a deposit for next year's break, in an effort to secure the best package deal: "Last year I booked in October, thinking I was early, but by then my first three choices were already gone."

There was plenty of choice available last week when tour operators Budget Travel, JWT and Panorama Holidays launched their summer 2003 brochures. All reported bumper sales.

"We sold treble the amount of holidays on this year's summer 2003 brochure launch day than that of last year," says Panorama managing director Niall McDonnell. On the first day of sale last Tuesday, the company sold 20,000 holidays for next summer.

"We've done three weeks' sales in days. There's been a huge surge. In some cases, people have been booking for holidays 14 months down the line," says McDonnell.

Damian Mooney, managing director of JWT, is anticipating a similar demand for its holiday offers from Cork, Shannon and Dublin, launched last Friday. Falcon, JWT's sister company specialising in family holidays, has already sold "tens of thousands" of 2003 holiday packages since late July.

This year's bad weather is considered one of the main reasons behind the surge in bookings. After all, we in Ireland had more than twice as much rain in May, June and July this year than we had last year.

"The extraordinarily inclement weather for the duration of the summer certainly added a boost to bookings," says Brendan Moran, chief executive of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA), which represents 85 per cent of travel agents. "I expect 2003 to be a very good year."

According to McDonnell, the summer package holiday market has been steadily growing over the last 10 years, from approximately 350,000 to more than 1 million package holidaymakers this summer. "A package holiday is no longer a luxury. It's now like paying for the car or the mortgage," he says.

Comparing past and present prices, McDonnell uses the example of a seven-night self-catering holiday for two adults and one child in Tenerife. In May 1986, he says, it would have cost £1,118 (€1,419), whereas the same basic Panorama holiday next summer costs €640, including travel insurance.

Cost is one of the reasons Dermott Jewell, chief executive officer of the Consumer Association, gives for the high take-up of holiday bookings for next year. "When it comes to eating out and the price of drink, we're really not terribly competitive in Ireland any more. The word is that there is much better value in the euro zone abroad," he says.

McDonnell agrees. "This year, Irish holidaymakers are coming home from the likes of Portugal and Spain, where they have paid €80 for a meal for a party of six or so, including drinks," he says. "The euro and holidays abroad really have exposed our over-priced and poor value-for-money economy."

When asked about the high cost of eating out in Ireland, Henry O'Neill, chief executive officer of the Restaurants' Association of Ireland, thinks it is the food supply industry and the Government that should be doing the explaining. "The profit margin in the restaurant business in Spain would be the same as here: 4.5 per cent," he says. "But they only have 7 per cent VAT on beverages and food, whilst we pay 12.5 per cent VAT on food and 21 per cent VAT on drink, in addition to €2.45 duty on wines and €4.98 on all sparkling wines, not just champagne."

O'Neill estimates that wages in Spain are probably about two-thirds of those in the Republic and that insurance costs are half as expensive. "Spanish restaurants have a choice of up to 30 insurance companies, whereas we have five," he says.

Clearly disgruntled by the cost of raw ingredients here, he is convinced that the type of "food experience" sought by holidaymakers in Spain is a "different animal altogether" from the one they expect at home.

"When people go out on their holidays they're dressed in a T-shirt and jeans and are looking for ragout, stew or paella," he says. "At home they have a totally different attitude, get all dressed up and are looking for sirloin steaks and an expensive fish starter."

THE top five foreign holiday destinations are Spain (including the Canaries and Balearic Islands), Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, according to the ITAA's Brendan Moran. Then comes France, especially for camping and caravanning, and Italy.

Shandon Travel of Cork specialises in camping holidays to France, Spain and Italy. General manager Suzanne MacMahon says the company has had bookings for next summer since early June, and adds that 70 per cent of its bookings are repeat bookings.

Bookings for holiday packages in Greece offered by both Panorama and Budget Travel have been increasing, especially to the island of Zakynthos, south of Corfu in the Ionian Sea. Offers to the island were "a complete sell-out" this year, according to Niamh Hayes, Budget's marketing manager, and she expects it to be very popular next year.

Moran echoes the advice of the ITAA's member organisations - book early to benefit from the widest choice - although he doesn't deny that early booking is good for travel agents too.

The allure of booking package holidays early is particularly strong for parents, who want the peace of mind of knowing they have their kids' entertainment organised, according to Bernadette Dawson, who has experience in three different resorts. "A lot of family resorts have kiddie clubs in the morning, afternoon and evening, which is great for the parents," she says.

So far, she's delighted with the Spanish resort she's chosen for next summer. The basic deposit for a family of four is €300 and she doesn't have to pay the balance until eight weeks before departure. "There's a crowd of friends going out there, so it gives you something to look forward to," she says.

However, despite his mother's forward planning and the experience of yet another wet Irish summer, Dawson's 11-year old son, Mark, doesn't want to go to Torremolinos. He would prefer to hang out with his friends miles from the Mediterranean sun, staying in his grandparents' caravan in Rush.