The January sales are coming to the travel industry early, with Airtours Holidays bringing forward traditional New Year promotions to the pre-Christmas period and flagging prices of up to 55 per cent off.

But the price cuts have been termed 'misleading' by the Trading Standards Office because they are compared with the prices on offer at this time last year for summer 2002 rather than with prices in earlier editions of summer 2003 brochures.

'Under consumer protection, the previous price must be fair and meaningful so consumers can make a comparison,' said Bruce Treloar, trading standards lead officer on travel. 'This is misleading.'

Airtours, which earlier this year teetered on the brink of collapse, admits that because the prices it had on offer this time last year were inflated to allow for 50 per cent discounting, this year's prices (which have not been bumped up) are only really 5-10 per cent lower.

For example, a week's self-catering at its Sofia Beach aparthotel in Kos was on sale last year for £659 per person in October, a price that was later halved by discounts. Now it is on sale for October 2003 for £299.

Steve Endacott, Airtours managing director for retail and charter distribution, said the real benefit for holidaymakers was that they did not have to pay flight supplements for weekend or day flights. He added that early bookers would also benefit from everything from free meals on flights to free kids' places.

'Are we doing this tactic because last year we got it wrong? Yes,' he said. 'Last year, we had a million holidays left to sell at the last minute. This year we are trying to cut it to half of that.'

Endacott added that Airtours' new pricing system was actually clearer for holidaymakers, with the price in the panel being the price they paid, rather than having an inflated original price with the intention of massive discounting.

But Treloar, who is compiling a report for the Office of Fair Trading on the lack of price transparency in the travel industry, said this was another example of how complicated it was for consumers to understand brochure prices. 'The consumer really has no idea where they are,' he said.

Traditionally, holidaymakers have had to wait until after Christmas to get deals on summer holidays. But Airtours said it made sense to have promotions on offer so people could pick up brochures and take them home and talk about them over the festive period.

'There are a great number of people walking around the high street in a Christmas shopping frenzy,' said Endacott. 'We don't think we'll be able to change their booking patterns overnight but they will probably pick up a brochure.'

Both Thomas Cook and Thomson said they had no intention of bringing forward their own booking campaigns for next summer's holidays. Thomson is launching a beefed-up £6 million marketing campaign on 26 December and Thomas Cook is putting its summer 2003 holidays on sale a day later.

Thomson said: 'We are not going to bring our campaign forward. Years of experience tell us that people aren't in the frame of mind to buy a holiday when they are buying a turkey.'

First Choice said it would make an announcement tomorrow about promotions that would be available from 26 December.