STAMPEDE FOR THE GREAT GETAWAY
Get us out of here... summer holiday bookings surge 600%
LOCKDOWN-WEARY Britons sent foreign holiday bookings soaring by 600 per cent yesterday.
The Covid jabs rollout and Boris Johnson’s optimistic roadmap to freedom
unveiled on Monday sparked frenzy for summer getaways
Trips abroad are unlikely to take off before May 17, according to the Prime Minister’s timetable – but families desperate for a getaway after a tough year were signing up in record numbers yesterday.
Bosses at Tui, the UK’s biggest holiday firm, said that bookings for foreign breaks jumped six-fold overnight with Greece, Spain and Turkey all in hot demand. EasyJet reported demand up 630 per cent.
Total bookings at rival airline Jet2.com and its package holiday arm Jet2holidays were seven times higher following the unveiling of the relaxation of Covid restrictions.
Families’ most sought-after month was August, followed by July and September.
Paul Charles, of the tourism industry’s Save Our Summer campaign, said Mr Johnson’s road map had given people the confidence to inject their cash into beleagured
holiday firms: “There has been a stampede in bookings which has provided hope for many consumers for trips in 2021.”
He added: “There is a huge sense of relief for most in the travel sector that April and May will see holiday cottages, then hotels and finally overseas travel open up again after months of being in a state of limbo.
“Airlines, tour operators, hotels, travel agents, cruise lines have all been on a miserable, seemingly never-ending journey since last March of furloughing staff, applying for loans, making staff redundant and cancelling bookings.
“Now there is, it seems, a smoother path ahead.
“From May 17, I’m confident the Government will make overseas travel easier – with the magic of the vaccine, it will also be much safer for us all.”
So-called vaccine passports could ease the return of foreign getaways and the PM yesterday asked senior minister Michael
Gove to review the “deep and complex issues” surrounding the Covid status certificates. Downing Street aides admitted there will need to be international agreements on overseas travel so Britain will tackle the issue with the G7 group of major nations. Bookings for domestic holidays are also rocketing as families plan a great British summer.
Bosses of Hoseasons and Cottages.com said they sold a record 10,000 breaks at a rate of two every 10 seconds. Single households will be able to go on a staycation from April 12 at the earliest, with twohousehold groups travelling together from May 17. Alan French, Thomas Cook’s chief executive, said yesterday the road map “was fantastic news for the whole country. I think we have all wanted to go on a holiday.
“Our customers have been snapping up some great deals.
“We saw demand rocket.We saw the website quadruple, bookings going up by more than that, particularly from families who are looking to book later in the summer.” Bookings were also “flooding in” for Greece, Cyprus, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, said: “This surge in bookings shows that this signal from the Government that it plans to reopen travel has been what UK consumers have been waiting for.
The Prime Minister’s address has provided a much-needed boost in confidence for so many of our customers in the UK, with demand for flights up 337 per cent and holidays up 630 per cent already compared to last week and beach destinations proving most popular.
“We will be working around the clock to ensure we will be ready to ramp up our flights to reconnect friends and family or take them on a long-awaited holiday.”
Mr Johnson said foreign travel could resume from May 17 after a review by the Department for Transport, which is due on April 12.
Ministers and officials will be checking on mutant strains of the virus as well as the progress of vaccination programmes abroad. Andrew Flintham, Tui’s managing director, said the Government can work with the travel industry on a “risk-based framework” that will allow foreign trips.
But some families have their sights set on holidaying at home.
Simon Altham, group chief commercial officer at Awaze – the company behind Hoseasons, said: “Last year following similar announcements we saw bookings peak at one every 11 seconds.
“But this time demand has exceeded our expectations and comfortably broken that.”
While Malcolm Bell, boss of Visit Cornwall, said: “We are pleased we have got the road map now. We want everybody to have a choice.
“We are very much angling for the multi-generational holidays.We want people to come down, reconnect and create great memories.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “we can be much more relaxed about international travel” if jabs work well against strains of the virus from South Africa and Brazil.
“If the vaccine doesn’t work against them, then that will be much, much more difficult,” he told Sky News.