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England’s World Cup defeat will boost holiday bookings
Travel companies are expecting to see a surge in searches and bookings in the next few days following England’s World Cup semi-final defeat last night.
Gareth Southgate’s team lost 2-1 to Croatia in a match that went to extra time.
England’s surprising success in the Russia tournament, coupled with the good weather in the UK, has been taking its toll on overseas holiday bookings.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley said yesterday that England’s World Cup performance and an extended heatwave had dampened bookings, causing shares in TUI, Thomas Cook and On the Beach to fall.
But with the heatwave coming to an end and England now out of the running in the World Cup, bookings are expected to pick up.
Victoria Bacon, director of brand and business development at ABTA, said: "The England team has done the country proud with its performances at the World Cup. Understandably, many football fans preferred to stay at home and follow the team with friends and family but now people’s attention will turn to their summer holiday."
"There are still some fantastic last-minute deals out there with destinations such as Spain, Greece and Portugal offering great value for money."
Alex Stuart, UK general manager at holiday homes specialist Novasol, added: "Although bookings before and during the World Cup have been steady, we do expect a surge over the next couple of weeks as people try to find their last minute summer holiday.
"Along with popular summer sun destinations such as Spain, France and Greece, our booking data suggests that people are also looking to enjoy their summer holiday in emerging destinations such as Croatia, Denmark, Germany and Sweden."
A spokesman for Loveholidays said: "We now expect customers to want to get away after last night’s defeat and anticipate that demand for summer holidays will increase.
"In addition, the coincidence of the weather changing for the worse sees us back to a more familiar UK scenario which will prompt those who haven’t booked to do so."
The remnants of Hurricane Chris are set to bring cooler temperatures to parts of northern England and Scotland, which could lead to rain at the start of next week.
However, London, Southern England and Wales will continue to enjoy sunshine.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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