"We've had a flood of calls": West Midlands travel agents see surge in bookings after lockdown exit plans
The holiday firm Tui reported a 500% rise in holiday bookings overnight
Last updated 24th Feb 2021
Travel agents in the West Midlands have a reported a sharp rise in bookings after the Prime Minister revealed his plans for easing lockdown over the next five months.
Despite questions over the return of international travel, UK-based holiday companies Hoseasons and Cottages.com said it sold a record 10,000 breaks.
A decision on easing international travel will not happen until 17th May at the earliest.
Boris Johnson has also setup a global travel taskforce to put forward a report by 12 April on how to return to international travel.
We spoke with travel agents across the region to ask what they'd seen since yesterday's announcement.
Jennifer Lynch, Managing Director at Arrange MY Escape, Worcester
Jennifer said: "Before I even started work this morning I was getting requests and this is nothing to do with existing bookings either so there we can see the positivity and people are feeling more confident.
"In terms of the destinations, we have been flooded with Florida enquiries, which is great because we have an expert, a Florida and Disney expert. A lot of Mediterranean enquiries as well, mainly from families who haven't been able to travel in the last year and a half. People are planning now because we have clarity and dates.
"It's nice to see that we've got clear dates now. They've instructed a Travel Task Force to report back on the 12th April so we're going to start to see movement in our industry again. Now to be able to make a booking and be positive that the customer is going to be able to travel, it completely changes the outlook. A weight has been lifted off our shoulders.
Pat Curtis, Owner of Pat Curtis Travel in Coventry
Pat said: "I actually cried with relief yesterday after the announcement because I felt it was so much clearer for us and more precise. It's a blessing for us all in the tourism sector to be able to make plans moving forward.
"I've found people with booking in May or before are no longer cancelling holidays but rescheduling them for later in the year or even next year. At the moment there's still uncertainty around the vaccines which are needed and the quarantine hotels but there is definitely more positivity out there.
"With the year that we've all had, people are so desperate to get away and want to make plans. The types of holidays now are very different. The types of enquiries I'm getting are usually Spain but now people are looking further afield and looking for something more exotic."
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