HOLIDAY firms have reported their busiest Saturday EVER as Brits scramble for bargains after a quarantine U-turn with Thailand and Vietnam both ‘green-lighted’ and top targets.
Families have hit the web for cheap deals after it was revealed travellers would not have to self-isolate for 14 days if they returned from certain countries.
“Green” and “amber” traffic light destinations cover every Europe nation — allowing sunseekers to fly off to favourite hotspots Spain, Greece and France without having to isolate when they return.
Only those flying to “red” countries — Covid hotspots such as the US, Brazil and India — will have to self-isolate on return.
Holiday firms have now revealed today is their busiest ever Saturday as lockdown Brits hope to sniff out a bargain.
But the herd of people wanting to jet off meant the Eurotunnel website crashed earlier today.
Its online booking stopped working properly because “too many people are trying to make a booking,” the company said.
Spain-holiday.com, the third biggest holiday rental site in Spain, said it had seen a 42 per cent surge in bookings making it 24 per cent higher than any previous Saturday.
Peter Jarvis, Head of International Brands at Spain-holiday.com, urged holidaymakers to “move fast”, saying: “We’re already seeing a huge increase in online interest in our holiday homes from the UK market, with pool properties being the most popular (up 104 per cent).
“Vigilance is absolutely still needed but with sensible precautions on either end we are confident we will see a safe summer in the sun for Brits again this year.”
Meanwhile TUI, Britain’s leading tour operator, said they had already seen bookings increase by 50 per cent.
Andrew Flintham, Managing Director of TUI UK & Ireland, said: “Holidays to Spain and Greece looking the most popular this summer.”
The travel company is now offering up to 68 per cent off Europe breaks.
Trailfinders is also trying to attract Brits to villas that would have been booked up months ago with prices slashed by a third.
And Airbnb revealed that daily domestic bookings on the accommodation site had doubled from Monday to Tuesday alone.
There were more UK domestic bookings between June 21 and 23 than there were in the entire month of April.
A spokesperson said: “This is good news for hosts and guests. We will continue to prioritise public health through steps like our enhanced cleaning initiative as hosts welcome guests back to clean and safe stays away from the crowds and boost the UK economy.”
Rachel O’Reilly, spokesperson for Kuoni travel agency said, the call centre had seen a “very positive” increase in the number of enquiries today.
She said: “Greece, Italy and Spain are quite in demand.
“Today definitely seems to be the beginning of the return.”
And an easyJet spokesperson said: “At this stage it is too early to tell whether there has been an impact on bookings but we suspect this is limited as we, and our customers, are yet to see the details of what is proposed.
“We are keeping a close eye on demand and if it makes sense, we will increase the number of flights for customers.”
At this stage, the airline is planning to fly 50 per cent of its routs in July, increasing to 75 per cent in August.
The U-turn comes three weeks after the Government said all returning Brits, and visitors to the UK, must quarantine for 14 days.
Paul Charles, of pressure group Quash Quarantine, blasted government delays.
He said: “The reality is the Government has abandoned air bridges for this traffic-light system. This symbolises the made-up policy, lack of visibility and a lack of clarity which is hurting our industry every day. Why are decisions being pushed back further?
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“It’s not giving the industry a chance to recover. July is ebbing away in terms of bookings, half the summer is gone, and the longer this goes on there will inevitably be more job losses.
“The travel industry is still flying through fog with this announcement and the visibility is simply not there.”
The traffic light system has been drawn up by the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England.
It is based on factors including the prevalence of the virus in a destination country, the UK Government’s confidence in the reliability of its data and the trajectory of the disease there.
Greece, Germany and Croatia are poised to make the “green” list, along with Barbados, Thailand and Vietnam.
France, Spain, Italy will be rated medium risk “amber”.
The Foreign Office will continue to advise against all non-essential travel to the red-light nations.
For all three lights, every passenger arriving in the UK will still have to fill out the “passenger locator form” to track any potential virus outbreak.
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