Coronavirus continues to cause problems for travel, with many destinations now inaccessible for UK holidaymakers. There are talks of testing at airports and changes to travel corridors, for the sake of the industry something needs to be done quickly. Many industry employees have lobbied their MPs to urge the Government for travel specific help.
We need a good range of operators for choice, competition will keep prices for your holidays down.
If you think the travel industry doesn’t make the country money you’d be wrong. The travel industry employs around 2m people (6% of total workforce) which is a lot of income tax. The inbound tourism industry is worth £30bn to the country and was growing at 6% per year before the pandemic and travel in total is worth about £70bn to the economy. Therefore it matters!!
It’s not just airlines, cruise ships, tour operators. It’s the lady that does your nails before you go away, the suitcase sellers, the people that take you to the airport, the car park owners, the pet sitters, the insurers, the foreign exchange bureaux, baggage handlers, hotel cleaners, hairdressers……… the list goes on
All of my clients have been or will be refunded for their cancelled trips, I don’t earn anything unless you actually travel. A lot of travel agents and operators will be in the same position. A large number of agents and operators won’t survive with this length of uncertainty, we’ve already seen the failure of several businesses. I’m in a fortunate position where I have reserves (and a working husband) so will ‘ride the storm’. I’m determined that I will not give up on my business that I have worked hard to grow and love. I can’t work in an industry that I am not passionate about. I have always wanted to and have always worked in travel.
Travel will come back, we need to plan for the future. Bookings for 2021 are strong with lots of people planning rescheduled 2020 trips, and booking trips to have ‘something to look forward to’. I also have recently been booking clients for 2022, people like the idea of booking ‘big trips’ far in advance to enable them to pay instalments and not feel the pinch in the purse too much. Villas and self catering properties are particularly popular, as are long haul destinations- there are some amazing offers out there at the moment! Thailand, Bali, Dubai, Mauritius, USA, Mexico are a few destinations where I’ve never seen such low prices, you can guarantee that once the restrictions are lifted prices will rocket so book now! You can be reassured that I only use trusted suppliers so your money is protected and I will keep you updated with any travel regulations.
Staycation has been a buzzword this year and advance bookings for next year are strong, regional lockdowns have added uncertainty but the suppliers I use have COVID guarantees in place protecting your money.
