Barrhead Travel has revealed its Scottish branches achieved their best sales day on record following the draw for the men’s football World Cup, with Steve Clarke’s side set to appear at the competition for the first time in nearly 30 years.
The group, which is the Scottish Football Association’s official travel partner for the tournament, described Sunday, December 7, as its “highest ever day of sales”. The draw took place two days previously, with teams due to play across the US, Canada and Mexico from June 11 – July 19, 2026.
The agency deployed a team of “experts” and support departments to work across the weekend after the draw.
Jacqueline Dobson, president of The Vacation Group, which includes Barrhead Travel, said: “We’ve known for some time that the 2026 World Cup was going to be a milestone event for leisure travel – particularly for Scotland if the national team qualified as this is a once-in-lifetime moment for many fans.
“With it being such a high-value bucket-list experience, fans are relying on reputable agents to make sure that they can secure the best value and availability as well as guaranteeing financial protection.
“Our partnership with the Scottish FA means that fans know exactly who to trust with their travel plans.
“Barrhead Travel, for example, has been preparing for demand since 2024, working with our key trade partners on some fantastic product.
“For our wider Vacation Group division, this has also been a phenomenal example of collaboration with our teams at Roadtrips and Bonotel who have been able to provide specialist support for our teams and their customers.”
Dave Guenther, president of Roadtrips, The Vacation Group’s luxury sports experience operator, said demand from UK travellers had “soared” since the draw.
He added: “We’re well-versed in providing tailored experiences for every major sporting event – and early bookings were already pointing to next year being the best World Cup season in our history.
“However, since the draw last weekend, there’s been unprecedented demand from the UK market – particularly driven by Scotland fans who are not prepared to miss their team play in the tournament for the first time in almost three decades.
“We’ve seen a real rise in demand for combining sports experiences with leisure travel and, for the UK market, I think next year’s World Cup will be a real turning point where we see an acceleration in interest for taking in marquee sporting events as part of a holiday.
“Simply put: people love travel and they love sports – so combining these experiences makes complete sense.”
The last time Scotland men’s team appeared in a World Cup tournament was in 1998 in France.
England have also qualified for next year’s event, while Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are hoping to secure places through the play-offs.
