The company said the increase is proof travellers are getting fed up with having to fork out for added extras when flying, such as checked baggage and seat reservations, which are not shown in the initial price.
The rise in leisure sales would have been even higher if Eurostar had not been forced to reduce services for the first two months of the year, following the fire on a Eurotunnel shuttle train last September, which left part of the tunnel closed until 23 February.
Overall for the first three months of 2009, Eurostar achieved sales of £168.1m, down 5.8% from £178.5m for the same period last year.
Overall traveller numbers totalled 1.92m, down 11.5% from 2.17m last year, with business traffic falling 20%.
The return to normal operations through the tunnel enabled Eurostar to achieve punctuality of 96% between 23 February and the end of March, compared with 79% on the air routes with which it competes.
Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown said: ‘The downturn may be depressing business travel but it is having the opposite effect on the leisure market, with more people wanting to get away from it all to relax, recharge the batteries and spend time with loved ones.
‘Our recently commissioned research shows travellers want transparent pricing and good value fares when they’re researching leisure breaks. They are fed up with extra charges, and they want the industry to be more honest about the real cost of travel.
‘The fares offered on eurostar.com and at Eurostar terminals are all inclusive, with no extra charges for check-in, seat reservations, booking fees or paying with credit cards. In the UK our lead-in return fare of just £59 has remained unchanged since March 2003.’
See also:
Overseas Easter getaway begins… (09/04/2009)
Eurostar back up to speed (23/02/2009)
Record year for Eurostar despite tunnel fire (13/01/2009)