The appetite for flying on holiday this summer appears lower in Scotland than last August, according to a Scottish Tourism Index survey in March.
The survey found an increase in the proportion “unlikely to consider travelling by air during 2021” from 60% last August to 72% in the latest poll.
This greater reluctance to fly appears tied to the risk of hotel quarantine, with 90% of respondents agreeing: “I’m very unlikely to take a holiday abroad this year due to the requirement to isolate in a hotel for 10 days.”
The Scottish government introduced 10-day hotel quarantine at the traveller’s expense for all arrivals from overseas in February. There is a £1,750 charge for the first adult, £650 for other adults and children over 12, and £325 for children aged 5-12. Travellers also have to pay for Covid-19 tests on day two and day eight of the 10-day self-isolation, with test kits costing £210 per person.
The researchers concluded: “The travel and holiday behaviours of Scots are very unlikely to be back to anything close to normal with majority rejecting air travel.”
When Index researchers asked about overseas trips in May and June last year, they found “the appeal just below that for other parts of the UK”.
But the appeal of overseas holidays this March was six points below that of holidays in England and Wales and 23 points below breaks in Scotland.
However, three in 10 respondents (29%) said they were still likely to travel in Europe this year and 11% beyond Europe, presumably assuming quarantine restrictions are removed. Half of Scots who do intend to travel abroad this year intend to visit Spain.
Significantly, the research found strong support for ‘vaccination passports’. Four out of five respondents (78%) agreed with introducing vaccination passports “to allow people to travel or attend large events”.
For now, one in two respondents (49%) said they were not thinking about a holiday or would not plan one for some time. By contrast, 12% were “desperate to take a holiday”, domestic or overseas, 16% “keen for a holiday in summer”, and 23% planning a holiday “later in the year”.
Seven in 10 (70%) said they were likely to take a domestic holiday in Scotland and 42% go elsewhere in the UK. However, only 5% had already booked a domestic holiday, with 32% saying they planned to.
The survey found potential holidaymakers keen for reassurance that places will be open to eat and drink and to visit. It suggested strong demand for self-catering holidays, with almost half (47%) of those planning domestic or overseas trips intending to stay in self-catering accommodation, a rise of 25 percentage points on pre-Covid-19 data.
A third of respondents (34%) said their household finances had been “significantly impacted” by the pandemic.
The Scottish Tourism Index compiled by 56 Degree Insight, was based on an online survey of 512 adults in Scotland on March 11-14. Find out more at: 56DegreeInsight.com.