Another year of staycations as just 15pc head abroad

:: 40pc will take holiday of at least one week in Republic

IT WILL be another staycation summer, with just 15pc of people planning to take a holiday abroad this year.

New research from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) found that fewer than one in six people intended to holiday overseas in 2021.

Last November just over half of respondents told the CSO they anticipated their next international flight would be some time in 2021.

However, by last month, with the public being warned not to expect easing of Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions any time soon and fines introduced for non-essential travel, that figure had fallen to just 15.9pc.

Around 40pc of people said they intend to take a holiday in the Republic of Ireland for at least one week in 2021.

Typically, before the arrival of Covid-19, around 30pc of people said they would have a staycation while 73pc said they would have a holiday overseas.

Just over a quarter of those surveyed said they would not have a holiday at all this year, compared to 11pc who would not take a holiday in a typical year.

The survey also analysed the public’s attitude towards vaccines, with 87pc of respondents yet to get the Covid-19 vaccine saying they would get vaccinated next week if it was possible.

A total of 5.4pc of respondents said they did not want to get the vaccine.

Two-thirds of them said they were worried about long-term side-effects.

Meanwhile, separate statistics have shown the most popular air traffic routes out of Ireland in January, apart from Britain, were Spain and Poland.

Some 14,700 passengers arrived on Spanish routes and 11,700 passengers departed on these routes in the month of January.

A further 11,300 passengers arrived on Polish routes and 7,100 passengers departed on these routes.

Statistician Gregg Patrick said there was a “substantial fall” in overseas travel in January compared to December, with arrivals down 34pc and departures down 33pc.

It comes as the Royal Caribbean cruise liner company announced its first ‘fully vaccinated’ cruises this May as the ‘green passport’ programme heats up.

It said it will offer “fully vaccinated sailings” between Israel, Cyprus and the Greek Islands.

Crew and passengers over the age of 16 will be vaccinated on sailings aboard Odyssey of the Seas, the company’s new mega-ship.

The news comes as Israel has delivered at least one dose of vaccine to more than half of its adult population.

Israel, Greece and Cyprus have signed tentative accords in a move towards allowing vaccinated travellers to move freely between the countries.

Debates around possible “vaccine passports” are heating up as several countries, including Iceland, Poland and Romania, now allow vaccinated travellers to bypass quarantine.

This comes while EU leaders at a virtual summit last week broadly agreed that vaccine certificates were needed.

However, it remains to be seen whether vaccination prevents transmission of the virus.

British over-50s cruise line Saga has said it will require all guests to be vaccinated this year.

Just over a quarter said they would not have a break this year