Travel corridors driving 'very late booking market'
James ChappleThe government’s travel corridor regime is driving "a very late booking market" according to the Advantage Travel Partnership.
Advantage leisure director Kelly Cookes revealed the consortium’s AMS members saw bookings for the Canary Islands double year-on-year over the weekend after the government announced a new quarantine-free travel corridor to the Canaries on Thursday (22 October).
However, nearly three quarters of these new bookings are for trips due to depart between October and December.
Cookes said that while the decision offered agents "a glimmer of hope" ahead of the traditional winter sun season, the uncertainty around travel corridors was driving people to book later for more immediate departures.
“Since the announcement last week that UK travellers are able to visit the Canary Islands and the Maldives, this has provided a glimmer of hope to travel agents up and down the country and consumers in search of some winter sun," said Cookes.
"Between Thursday 22 October and Sunday 25 October, bookings to the Canaries through our AMS members were up 102% compared to the previous year, with 74% of these bookings departing between October and December 2020.
"This demonstrates there is definitely pent-up demand from travellers and that we are seeing a very late booking market because of the unpredictability of destinations being added and removed from the UK government’s quarantine list. Sales were also up year-on-year to the Maldives.
"We hope this positive step forward for the industry continues throughout the winter season with the addition of more countries deemed safe for travel.”
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