A surge in holiday bookings by the over-50s is giving UK travel companies devastated by the pandemic a much-needed boost as the vaccination rollout lifts consumer confidence.
Sales at Saga doubled during the first two weeks in January compared with the first two weeks in December, the travel and insurance group said. Hotelplan, whose Inghams walking holidays are popular with retirees, reported that bookings were up 57 per cent last week compared with the week before.
Jit Desai, head of holidays and travel at coach operator National Express, said “the grey pound’s confidence around vaccines” was driving the resurgence, with spring and summer holiday bookings up 185 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Both Saga and National Express, 98 per cent of whose holiday customers are over 65, said that last Monday had been a record day for sales.
Henrik Kjellberg, chief executive of Awaze, which runs the holiday rental companies cottages.com and Hoseasons, pointed to a similar trend. At the beginning of the week starting January 11, bookings had been down 50 per cent compared with a year earlier, but had leapt last weekend to between 2 and 4 per cent up on last year’s levels.
Bookings for its cottages, popular with families and the over-40s, were up 26 per cent year on year, with October the most in demand month. Although bookings were up across the age groups, over-55s accounted for most growth with reservations from that demographic up 13 per cent week on week.
“The vaccine is definitely part of it,” Mr Kjellberg said, although he added that the government’s announcement of its target to vaccinate all over-70s by February 15 had coincided with the shutdown of travel corridors into the UK, which may have persuaded people to book domestic holidays instead.
Overseas holiday bookings have seen an uptick too but mostly for the second half of the year.
Bookings to Wales and Scotland from residents in England were subdued because of trepidation around the speed of the vaccine rollout there, Mr Kjellberg added.
Even before the pandemic, retirees had been spending more on holidays than any other age group. Outlay on overseas travel by the over-65s increased 37 per cent between 2016 and 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The resilience of the so-called grey pound will be a boon to travel companies, whose revenues have been decimated by the pandemic. ONS data published in December showed that of all sectors, travel agents and tour operators suffered the greatest monthly decline with economic output in October 90 per cent below February’s levels.
Cruise businesses that predominantly cater to older customers and became a totem for the virus’ spread early in the pandemic have been harder hit than most but, as a result, have put in place some of the most stringent health protocols.
Saga, which offers cruises catering specifically to the over-50s, announced last week that it would require all customers booked on its ships to have had both doses of a coronavirus vaccine at least 14 days before they embark in a bid to encourage bookings.
“Our customers are really chomping at the bit, they are fed up with being under house arrest,” said Nick Stace, chief executive of Saga’s travel business. “What we are trying to do here is take away any lingering lasting doubts that potential customers have.”
The pandemic pushed the company to a £55m loss in the six months to the end of July 2020, down from a profit of £52.6m in the comparable period in 2019.
Viking Cruises, which targets the over-55s, has introduced daily PCR testing for customers on its voyages and installed air purification systems across its fleet. The company said that a 138-day cruise that went on sale in December for departures in 2022 and 2023 had almost sold out and that it was adding extra capacity for this year to meet demand.
Lengthier vacations were also a common trend in bookings, with operators suggesting that people wanted to get away for longer having not been able to take a holiday last year.
Tui, Europe’s largest tour operator, said that more UK customers than usual were opting for trips of 10 to 14 nights, while Saga, which also runs package holidays, said that the average number of nights booked had increased from 13 to 18.
Echo Lu, chief executive of the holiday park operator Haulfryn, said that holidaymakers were booking further ahead than in previous years with more choosing off-peak season.
Ms Lu added that she hoped the boost to bookings, which were “significantly up”, would be enough to help Haulfryn recoup some of last year’s losses but it would depend on whether the business was able to open for the crucial Easter holiday break.
The Link LonkJanuary 24, 2021 at 06:00PM
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Over-50s offer holiday operators ray of hope - Financial Times
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