Cruises top wishlist as ‘Covid fatigue’ fuels bookings increase

Miles Morgan Travel has seen its best sales week for new bookings since March, attributing the increase to ‘Covid fatigue’ among Brits desperate for something to look forward to.

Half of new bookings are for cruises, which owner Miles Morgan described as a ‘vote of confidence’ for the industry.

He tweeted: "Last week was our best sales week of new bookings since March. Could Covid fatigue be kicking in and people simply want a holiday to look forward to?? Who can blame them?"

Morgan doesn’t think Monday’s briefing by chief scientific advisers, which warned the UK could face 49,000 new Covid cases a day by mid-October, will have any effect on people wanting to get away.

He told TravelMole: "People have just had enough. The new warnings don’t make any difference. I don’t think that there’s much more that could happen to make things worse.

"Even a total halt to flying would stop the holiday roulette on a Thursday night, and that is what has been making people nervous. Nothing that can be chucked at us could make it worse than it has been."

One-third of new bookings are for 2020, with people booking closer to departure date.

The majority of the rest are for 2021, with 2022 also looking healthy.

Half of new bookings have been for cruises, including two separate bookings for round-the-world sailings.

Morgan added: "Our client base are confidence cruisers. They know what to expect and they understand how it all works.

"It’s a vote of confidence for the cruise industry that people can’t wait to get on ships again. It’s not what we would expect, because the cruise sector as a whole is taking a hit."

He added: "People are being quite savvy and booking close to departure, when they are confident the likelihood of going ahead is high. They are happily adjusting and gaining confidence in the flexibility that the suppliers are building. They know they can get some certainty on the price."

Miles Morgan Travel has been actively promoting holidays and Morgan said the surge in bookings has been driven by its marketing efforts, rather than people walking through the door.

"We have to cut costs, of course we do. But the best way out of this is to drive sales. There is confidence and there is money about. It’s interesting – people are not scared to spend it on holidays," he added.

"There’s talk of a vaccine by the end of this year at the latest. It gives me some hope.

"It’s going to be a long, tough winter and I’m not saying we are smashing it, but we are feeling quite good about the future and we expect to see a lot of new clients coming into our business."

By Lisa James, Deputy Editor (UK)