Hoseasons has reported a surge in bookings in the run-up to the August bank holiday weekend.
Its call centre had its busiest day of the year on Monday and website bookings are 25% up for the last seven days compared to the same time last year, said managing director Simon Altham.
Last week the operator’s parks and lodges business was up 19% year on year, while sales of boating breaks were up 29%.
Altham said: “Trading has been strong for the UK this year – it’s not a new phenomenon – but what’s interesting is this real surge in demand for this weekend.
“It’s been surprising to see how busy it’s been: people seem to have left it very late. I think families have been saying “do we, don’t we” and held off quite late.”
Altham said the last-minute surge in UK bookings – mainly from the family market – was likely to be due to a combination of factors, including worries about going abroad via Calais because of migrant protests and long traffic queues.
“Our customers are from the mindset of “do we go to France or holiday at home” rather than taking a beach holiday in Ibiza, and the UK family market is always about safety and security for children. We have had a lot of questions on this for Calais, and even more of a factor has been about how long the delays are,” added Altham.
Altham said “regardless of any overseas factors” the operator’s UK business was on track for a good year.