Travel bookings on the rise with ‘wall of cash ready to be spent’

The ORTG, which includes Guernsey’s Wayfarers World Travel, has seen a steady rise in travel bookings across its four locations in the Crown Dependencies, with most travellers seeking destinations closer to home.

Mr Kelly said the market was definitely picking up and, while there were good reasons to be optimistic, Guernsey’s decision to allow free travel within the Common Travel Area was very sensible and should see an influx of summer tourists.

Mr Kelly said that while there were good reasons to be optimistic, bookings remained low for the time of year.

‘People are still cautious. The UK opening and closing destinations, the Indian variant, people still waiting on travel refunds and also a general sense of unease after 14 months of isolation, mean travellers are keen but still biding their time.

‘There is a wall of cash out there ready to be spent on travel and people are getting more and more confident by the day, so we are anticipating a busy summer.

‘Guernsey’s decision to allow visitors from the CTA will have exactly the right effect on the confidence of travellers and, as the UK Covid situation continues to improve, we are seeing a definite improvement in bookings across Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

‘People will continue to get more and more confident about travelling to destinations deemed safe.’

Mr Kelly said whether the outcome of Guernsey’s different stance on entry requirements – insisting on double vaccinations for incoming travellers to escape the need for quarantine – will bear fruit was not clear and differed from the position taken by the Isle of Man and Jersey.

‘I do think that people will be attracted to an island where every adult is vaccinated and all visitors are either doubly vaccinated or in quarantine, but whether it will be a bigger success than the other Crown Dependencies remains to be seen.

‘As travel agents, we are more confident today than we have been at any point in the last 14 months.’