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Travel news

Travel firm launches advice hub

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Kuoni guide to the Covid-19 travel maze

With light at the end of the pandemic tunnel after the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines, people’s thoughts are turning to holidays, and the prospect of getting away this spring and summer.

There is a bundle or red tape to unravel about restrictions and travel requirements.

To guide people through the Covid-19 travel maze, a one-stop advice hub has been launched this week, making it easy to see what requirements and restrictions are in place.  

The Covid Travel Advice Hub from worldwide travel company Kuoni is available online for anyone to use.  For the first time, it brings together all of the travel restrictions and requirements from around the world making it much easier to plan holidays for the year ahead.  It’s the definitive guide to travel corridors, quarantine and testing. 

As well as showing which destinations are welcoming visitors, the advice hub includes travel corridor information, current FCDO advice, Covid testing requirements,  and quarantine rules on entering a country or returning to the UK.   

Whilst it’s not possible to travel overseas on holiday within the current lockdown, the advice will be continually updated as legal restrictions are eased and holidays become possible again.  

Early signs in January indicate there are plenty of people desperate to plan a holiday overseas this year and are prepared to book now. The advice hub will help travellers to see which places are open to book now for travel at a later date.  

Derek Jones, CEO of Kuoni, said: “This is about making an increasingly complex situation simple to understand, providing answers to questions we know people are asking in a clear, searchable online format that anyone can access.   

“The hub is available to everyone, free of charge – we’re providing this service because we want to play our part in opening up the world again. Travel Agents are welcome to use the resource to help them to provide the most up to date advice and guidance for their customers.”

Mr Jones added: “During the pandemic we’ve seen two types of travellers emerge.  There are those who want to get away quickly, who will go at short notice as soon as borders are open and the necessary Covid tests are in place.  These customers want to know what’s possible now and the travel advice hub will be a valuable tool for these last minute bookers. 

“Alongside that we have customers planning holidays a long way in advance so again this is a really useful way to simply search for what’s bookable now for travel later. 

“We’ve spent the last few months designing this one stop shop for all Covid related travel advice.  The information within the Travel Advice hub will be updated daily.  Customers and agents will no longer need to go off to different websites to try and make sense of it all.  

“We want to encourage people to travel again but complexity around travel will continue for some time, so it’s essential that we give people the information they need and the confidence to travel safely and smoothly.  That way we can get travel up and running again this year and help people have a much-needed break and give everyone something to look forward to.”  

Visit the site https://covidtraveladvice.kuoni.co.uk 

Travel news

Vaccine confidence boost for older travellers

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Surge in bookings for over-65s

By Rob Gill, TTG Media

The new vaccines for Covid-19 has sparked a surge in confidence with the over-65s leading a huge surge in holiday bookings.

Coach operator National Express has seen a 185 per cent rise in over-65s booking holidays compared with this time in 2020 after launching its spring and summer programme last weekend.

Jit Desai, from National Express, told BBC Breakfast: “Many of them have had their first jab and now within 12 weeks will receive their second jab. That gives them a level of certainty that they can enjoy and look forward to their 2021 holiday.”

Desai added that National Express had taken “a week’s worth” of bookings in a single day on Monday, compared with the same period last year.

Tui’s UK managing director Andrew Flintham said the over-50s accounted for more than half of bookings received on the tour operator’s website in the past two weeks.

He added that they were getting more multi-generational family bookings as well as from “broader groups”.

TTG editor Sophie Griffiths also told BBC Breakfast: “This is utterly fantastic news and will be hugely welcomed by an industry that’s been devastated by the pandemic.

“Ten months into this crisis, the travel industry still has received zero dedicated financial support from the government.

“This is the first sign of the light at the end of the tunnel for the sector. Who isn’t going to want a holiday after the annus horribilis that was 2020?”

Escorted touring specialist Titan Travel said bookings for 2022 were “beginning to take off”, with one tour to Costa Rica already sold out 13 months before departure.

Managing director Andy Squirrell added: “Having conducted consumer surveys over summer last year, we recognised that travellers are looking ahead to future trips earlier than ever before.

“The vaccine rollout is undoubtedly bringing greater confidence to travellers who are itching to book a holiday and travel once again. Whether consumers are wanting to travel in 2021 or book in advance for 2022, we’re declaring 2021 the Year of the Holiday; the much-anticipated reawakening of travel.” 

For more information, visit https://www.ttgmedia.com/