After PM Boris Johnson’s “one-way road to freedom” announcement, holiday bookings surged with desperate Brits needing a break to look forward to.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he’s very optimistic that all COVID-19 restrictions in England would end on June 21, leading to holiday companies and airlines seeing a huge increase in summer holiday bookings.
Last week, the UK PM unveiled a map out of lockdown that would keep some businesses shuttered until the summer, saying caution was necessary to ensure there were no reversals on a “one-way road to freedom”.
“I’m hopeful, but obviously nothing can be guaranteed … I’m very optimistic that we’ll be able to get there,” Johnson told broadcasters when asked about the June 21 date earmarked to end restrictions.
Holiday dreaming
Brits are currently in their third lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic and are in desperate need of a holiday, as the latest booking figures suggest.
The future is looking brighter, with airlines and holiday companies reporting a surge in travel bookings since the June end date was unveiled.
According to a report by the BBC, UK travel giant, Tui, said bookings for overseas trips jumped 500% overnight.
Despite the government saying international travel would not be happening until mid-May at the earliest, faith is at an all-time high for a summer in the sunshine.
Tui told the BBC that its bookings for July-onwards had soared with Greece, Spain and Turkey the most popular destinations.
It’s not just overseas travel that is booking up quickly. Some holidaymakers have their sights set on a peaceful UK trip, with the owner of holiday firms Hoseasons and Cottages.com saying it sold a record 10,000 domestic breaks.
A fast rollout
With almost 130,000 fatalities, Britain has suffered the world’s fifth-highest official death toll from the pandemic and its economy has seen its biggest crash in more than 300 years.
But in two months it has already managed to provide an initial vaccine dose to more than a quarter of the population, the fastest rollout of any big country, making it a test case for governments worldwide hoping to return life to normal.