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Online travel companies report spike in searches
Lastminute.com says it saw a rise of up to 150% in searches days before quarantine was rumoured to be lifting.
Searches for Spain and Greece experienced a 146% and 149% jump between the first and final weeks of June, with France and Italy experiencing a 138% and 75% rise respectively.
Overall the percentage of holiday bookings made in June on lastminute.com was only 4% less than compared with June 2019.
The online travel agent has reported an ‘enormous uptick’ in international holiday searches from more adventurous travellers throughout the month, peaking in the past week.
MD Andrea Bertoli said now the the go-ahead from the FCO has been given it expects ‘lookers to turn to bookers’.
Bookings for January and February breaks are seeing a bigger share than normally expected for June, suggesting some customers are taking a ‘wait and see’ approach.
LM Group CEO Marco Corradino said: "Europe usually generates £300bn a year from international tourism, so the ban on international travel has come as a huge blow to their economies, as well as our own. So to see such a huge rise in bookings in the past week is fantastic, as an influx of tourists from July will bring with it a much needed cash injection, and also help to ensure the long term survival of holiday resorts across the continent. "
Meanwhile, data from eDreams ODIGEO showed Greece saw the highest increase in searches by UK travellers in the first 24 hours after possible air bridges were announced on Friday June 26.
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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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