A poll by a homeworking group has found that more than a third (39%) of customers would like to travel “as soon as possible” after lockdown restrictions are lifted.
The survey by The Personal Travel Agents At Co-operative Travel, found that 8% of customer would prefer to wait at least two months, 11% three months, 13% six months, and 29% until 2021.
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The homeworking division of Midcounties Co-operative welcomed the findings – from a poll of 1,600 customers – and said it was “very encouraged” about future bookings.
The research found Britons will be exercising caution when it comes to deciding where and how they holiday in the future. Nearly two thirds (62%) of respondents selected Europe as the destination they would like to travel to next and 10% chose the UK.
Of the long-haul holiday hotspots, the US was the most popular with 10% of respondents choosing it, followed by Mexico and the Caribbean at 9% and the rest of the world receiving far smaller numbers.
The survey also suggested the traditional beach break has been missed most. It found 66% of respondents selected a beach holiday as their preferred post-lockdown escape, beating city breaks (38%), UK staycations (15%), touring holidays (14%) and cruises (11%).
In terms of board basis, 40% of respondents said they would still opt for all-inclusive but an equal number said they would choose self-catering. Bed and breakfast and half-board were the least popular accommodation choices for future travel, according to the poll.
More than half (51%) of respondents said they would holiday with immediate family, and 59% with a partner or close friend for their first post-coronavirus getaway. Three percent said they would travel solo and 9% said they would travel with extended family groups.
“We are very encouraged to see indications that holidaymakers will be booking their post-pandemic getaways as soon as they can,” said Sheena Whittle, head of The Personal Travel Agents at Co-operative Travel. “We all know we’ll emerge from this into a different travel landscape and with an altered mindset about how we travel, but the British passion for holidays will drive the travel industry revival, when restrictions are lifted and solutions are found to meet the demand that’s out there.
“We have used our survey results to steer our marketing approaches and the offers we advertise and we are seeing positive signs, including weekly rises in new bookings, with 53% of all bookings made by our agents last week (to 16 May) coming from fresh enquiries, as opposed to re-books.
“Our agents are all hugely dedicated and passionate about caring for their customers who need to re-book and we are supporting them with relevant marketing ideas and assets to build their new sales as well. Despite the current situation, our survey shows that there are customers out there, eager to travel as soon as they are able.”
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