A rush of people booking holidays in the UK has sparked a rebound in the occupancy of its hotels, Premier Inns owner Whitbread PLC said today.
Airline EasyJet PLC (LON;EZJ) meanwhile said last night it was laying on extra flights to meet the demand from people staycating.
A report in the Telegraph said 12 new routes would be announced today including new services to the UK’s surfing capital Newquay from Inverness and Liverpool.
More flights are scheduled from Gatwick as well.
Britons are scrambling for UK holidays after Portugal was removed from the green list earlier this month.
Anyone going to any of the UK’s traditional summer hot spots now has to quarantine for 10 days when they get back and take two expensive Covid-19 tests, which is a huge handicap says the travelling industry.
Whitbread said since restrictions were lifted on 17 May, demand had “improved markedly” across its estate with the notable exceptions of London and sites at airports.
Occupancy was not at around 74% of the level seen a year while forward booking were rising steadily helped both leisure demand and a pick-up in business travel.
Whitbread is not out of the woods yet, say commentators.
Julie Palmer, a partner at business consultant Begbies Traynor, said: “Staycations are booming across the UK.
“Whitbread certainly has the infrastructure to cater for them with a range of hotels and bars and restaurants it has to do the best it can to attract the attention of customers as fears of a third wave and further lockdowns have to be at the back of its mind.
“After a year of closures it will be expecting to have a good summer in all of its businesses, and a positive performance by the England football team could be vital to boosting its pub sales a little more.
“Undoubtedly the announcement of a delay to removing of restrictions will have taken the wind from its sails but it will feel that while it can lobby, it cannot wallow.
“This summer is still a huge opportunity to claw back lost revenue for Whitbread and it’s a challenge that it cannot afford to fail.”
Peel Hunt kept forecasts unchanged at a loss of £226mln this year followed by profits of £116mln the following twelve months.
“We believe that near in trading is better than expected, particularly in tourist locations," said the broker.
Development activity continued, with ten new hotels opened in the UK in the period, a further indication of the benefits of Whitbread’s strong balance sheet, which has been further boosted by an inflow of customer deposits.
“We believe that Whitbread will continue to take market share and advance its strategic plan."
'Add' is its share recommendation with a 3,600p target price.
Shares in Whitbread rose 3% to 3,391p.