A stream of World Cup related polls by Pricewaterhouse Coopers has shown that travel companies will not see as much trade from the football this summer as they might have hoped for.
Travel director Ian Oakley-Smith said only 1% of UK fans are travelling to South Africa to see the tournament and many people have put off having a holiday altogether for fear of missing games.
He said: "With only one percent of those UK based fans watching the World Cup 2010 actually flying out to South Africa, travel companies are not incurring as much football related trade as they may have anticipated six months ago.
"In fact, at least five per cent have chosen to either delay or not take a holiday due to the tournament."
He added: “This represents a large amount of lost revenue for travel companies, and on top of this 30 per cent of people don’t intend to take a summer holiday at all – irrespective of the football.
"Travel companies and airlines must be prepared for a late bookings rush, offering choice and value for money towards the end of the Summer to try and recoup any June trade losses."
Oakley-Smith said a visit to this year’s ITT conference in Benidorm yielded evidence that extended ash cloud disruption had also put people off travelling.
He said: “Anecdotally, the first two ash cloud groundings didn’t impact bookings, however after the third round of disruption the travel industry saw a drop off.
He added: “The economic downturn, ash cloud and World Cup will mean the UK domestic holiday and staycation will remain popular this year.
"While there is a general air of optimism that private sector business travel is returning, the impending Treasury cuts will inevitably target public sector business travel – impacting operators and hoteliers."
by Dinah Hatch
