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World Cup disaster means busy week for trade
England crashing out of the World Cup yesterday was bad news
for football fans but great news for the UK travel industry.
Operators are expecting a surge in bookings this week now that England supporters will no longer be glued to their TV screens.
Within an hour of England’s defeat to Germany, lowcostholidays.com reported a sudden surge in web traffic, around 40% increase compared to the previous week.
Matt Hall, head of product, said: “We knew that many customers were waiting to see how far England progressed before they committed to a holiday in the sun and the huge disappointment of England’s defeat meant that they didn’t waste any time.”
It’s good news, too, for diehard football fans content to watch any national team play live as tour operators yesterday slashed the price of quarter-final packages.
Thomas Cook Sport, one of the participating tour operators, has knocked more than £600 off its remaining four-day packages to South Africa for the quarter finals later this week.
A company spokesman said the operator had a handful of ticket-inclusive packages remaining at the knock-down prices. “We expect to sell out, even though England won’t be playing, because this is a great chance to see teams like Brazil and Argentina play live,” he added.
* Have you already seen a surge in bookings? What would you prefer – more bookings, or England still in the World Cup?
Email us your views by clicking on ADD A COMMENT below
By Linsey McNeill
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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