Dear Reader,

JUST for a minute, I thought mistyeyed health secretary Matt Hancock was going to surprise us and announce that he and his family were planning a holiday in the wilds of Mongolia. Or Alaska.

But, no. Instead, goody twoshoes Matt said he’s already booked his summer break — and it will be in Cornwall.

Nothing wrong with Cornwall, of course, but opting to go a little further afield might have given the rest of the country more confidence, especially those of us who are itching to fly again and getting all nostalgic for that moment when an officious agent at security barks some order or other at 5am when you’ve hardly been to bed the night before.

Even the crass walk through a brightly-lit Duty Free shopping mall doesn’t seem quite so dispiriting any more.

Thank goodness, vaccine tsar Kate Bingham has been more explicitly upbeat, saying that next year her ‘gut feel is that we will all be going on summer holidays …’, adding ‘we should be in a much better place to get on planes’.

Go girl, Kate. And that’s why (deal or no deal) we’re devoting the whole of this week’s Escape to the summer of 2021.

Already, there are reports of holidays selling out following the start of the successful vaccine rollout — so we’re here to offer inspiration and help you find the best deals for 2021.

And there are deals. I took part in a webinbar (awful word for which Covid is to blame — and I’ve just been invited to a ‘VirtYule’ party) with a Portuguese group of hotels during which I asked the CEO if he thought his prices would rise in a bid to recoup losses or fall as a way of winning back guests. He said they would decrease by as much as 10 per cent.

That won’t be the case everywhere, but get in early and you’ll be rewarded. You might not bump into Matt Hancock in Mongolia (pictured), but you might just have the sort of experience which only the wonderful world of travel can offer.