Silver Travel Advisor’s Debbie Marshall says some older travellers won’t leave UK until they feel ‘totally reassured’
Foreign Office advice against all non-essential travel, quarantine measures, and an ever-growing list of hygiene, social distancing and other protocols to keep us safe, are all key concerns when it comes to the return of overseas holidays.
On top of this, until last week it was nigh on impossible to find a travel insurance policy which would cover for the virus if contracted while abroad. A report by Which? found that around 30 insurance companies completely stopped selling policies as the pandemic took hold.
This is a real concern for older travellers in particular.However, there’s news to brighten the mood with insurance company Staysure now saying it will cover the emergency medical and repatriation costs of contracting Covid-19 while abroad. It will, of course, only apply to countries that are deemed safe to visit once FCO advice has been lifted. While its policies do not cover cancellation if the virus is contracted in the UK prior to travel, it’s a good start, and the industry will be hoping other firms soon follow suit.
And we’re in need of some good news at the moment, especially in the wake of the demise of Shearings, which sentshockwaves through the industry. If not quite Thomas Cook in terms of longevity, 117 years is a very long time to have been in business, and Shearings was (and I am finding it hard to use the past tense) a company which knew the silver market inside out.
Shearings shockwave
As one of our members commented: “All you had to do was keep your side of the bargain. Turn up at the allotted time and let the coach take the strain. Sit back, relax and enjoy the countryside here and abroad. Everything else was taken care for you. No stress, no headache”.
Quite simply, Shearings’ holidays were designed with the older generation in mind. This included its best-in-class helpdesk for health problems and mobility limitations, to which we turned on a regular basis for advice and assistance. Shearings was a worthy winner of multiple trophies at the Silver Travel Awards over the years, and we will miss them.
Will a phoenix emerge from the ashes? Harold Burke, sales director at Grand UK, posted on LinkedIn: “2,500 of our colleagues lost their jobs. When you see all those amazing brands and know some of the inspirational people behind them, you understand what a significant loss this is to our industry. Knowing some of the characters involved, I am confident they will return stronger than ever and ready to play a part in the new beginning”.
Domestic upturn
So what is next for older travellers? We know they are keen to get away again, with more than 80% in our recent survey confirming this enthusiasm. It was an outlook echoed by Chris Wright, managing director of Sunvil, who told me: “Clients tend to be older, but that doesn’t seem to make any difference when it comes to booking holidays, as they are among the most enthusiastic to get travelling again.”
We know that silver travellers are relatively unaffected financially by the pandemic, with upwards of 50% of respondents in our survey saying they have experienced no hardship at all, with their pensions and savings intact. And they might not even find themselves fazed by the prospect of quarantine on return to the UK – two weeks at home being very much par for the course in retirement.
But in the meantime? Much as they would love to travel again, some older people will not leave the UK until they feel completely reassured. This means that domestic tourism will see a real uplift once we can move around the country again, and we’re experiencing a surge in enquiries for country cottages, isolated retreats and cruises around Britain. The sad irony is that Shearings would have been perfectly placed to capture this demand; however, other savvy companies are forging partnerships, such as Kuoni with McKinlay Kidd, and new products, such as Cycling for Softies with its gentle biking tours in the Cotswolds and Sussex.
Until overseas travel gets back on track, exploring the great British countryside and coastlines looks like a very good option, safe in the knowledge that our heroic NHS is there for us all.
