The great holiday stampede is coming
FAMILIES will have summer holidays this year, a leading travel agent has promised.
Covid-19 and flight bans had looked set to dash the hopes of millions eager to banish the lockdown blues.
But in a statement that will bring a smile to many faces, Sunderland-based Hays Travel said the great getaway was on.
Chair Irene Hays, 66, said: “We have hundreds of thousands of people who have holidays booked and want to go away.And we hope they will.
“We know how important the tourist industry is to places like Spain, Portugal and Greece, and we think air bridges are the best way to make sure the summer holiday season still goes ahead.
“If people are assured by the Government that it is safe to do so, they will continue to book up – and at the moment prices are exceptional.”
Stampede
Ministers are looking at the creation of bilateral deals with countries that have a similar Covid-19 infection rate to the UK. Many are places Britons besiege each year.
If agreements are in place soon, it could mean families who have been forced to stay at home for more than 100 days since lockdown was announced on March 23 finally get to enjoy a foreign holiday without the threat of having to self-isolate once they return to the UK.
The Daily Express understands the imminent creation of air bridges would pave the way for a stampede to Mallorca, the Canaries, Tenerife, Lanzarote, the Algarve, Crete and Corfu.
Managing director John Hays, 70, said: “Yes, the threat of quarantine has been a major barrier, but a lot of very excited people are still desperate to get away on holiday and the appetite for Britons to travel remains undiminished. We have been left in no doubt as to their desire to get away.
“We started taking bookings for this summer in March last year and remain absolutely hopeful they will be able to get to places like France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, like they do every year.
“The desire to get away is evident. Of the hundreds of thousands of holidays that have been booked with us the vast majority want to travel if they are allowed.
“Only a substantial minority want to go away next year or in 2022. We are expecting an announcement in the coming weeks to bring some certainty, but we’re hopeful holidays will take place.
“It would provide a welcome boost to so many people.”
The Government is expected to make an announcement on air bridges on June 29, leading to a rush for cut-price deals.
Experts estimate that Britain has saved a collective £20billion during lockdown which, they believe, would be collectively blown on summer holidays once travel bans are lifted.
Tui said it will not fly before July 10 and Jet2 before July 15, but airlines including easyJet and Ryanair are already ramping up services to cater for the insatiable appetite to get away.
It has led to cheap prices to tempt customers with up to 20 per cent of seats on sale at knockdown prices.
Bargains on offer include four staying in the Algarve for four nights at £185 per person, a three-star stay inVenice for four nights at £239 per person and Bangkok and Phuket for 10 nights at £999 per person. John
said: “In February when this was all looking like it would get ugly I remember speaking to a group of travel agents at a conference and saying we are a resilient industry.
Safety
“After 9/11 people were fearful of flying for six months and we had an airspace crisis because of the Icelandic volcano in 2010.
“But honestly those were a walk in the park compared to Covid-19, which has been the biggest threat to the travel industry in the 40 years I have been in it.
“Travel will not be the same and in the medium term, or however long it takes to produce a vaccine, we are going to have to live with it but I have certainly been heartened by what we have seen across Europe which is now opening up beaches, hotels, cafes and restaurants.
“Yes, it’s different, but it appears to be going very well and with safely at the forefront of everyone’s minds.”
John and Irene plan to reopen a large chunk of their 650 shops today after initially furloughing the majority of their 5,000 staff.
The pandemic could have spelled trouble for the couple, who bought ailing operation Thomas Cook in a £6million deal in October last year, saving thousands of jobs.
Hays Travel has not made redundancies and from the start of the crisis John and Irene decided to pay themselves the minimum wage of £8.72 an hour – and have not taken a dividend for 11 years.
In addition on selected holidays if customers need to cancel or change plans within six weeks of departure, they can have a full, no-quibble refund with no charges.
Irene said: “We have survived because we have a healthy balance sheet, plenty of cash and no debt. It’s not been easy because we have not just had no income, we have had negative income as we have had to refund clients.
“But things are so much more positive now. The day Jet2 announced it was not flying until July 15 we had people booking holidays for July 16 and lots are booking up the Canaries for later in the year, New York at Christmas and already thinking ahead to next summer.
“There is definitely demand and people are ready for a break. We are doing all we can to make that a reality.”