British holiday bookings rise on vaccine rollout

Holiday company TUI said the vaccine rollout in Britain had boosted summer bookings from those aged 50 and over, with that age group accounting for 50% of all web bookings since the end of last year.

The elderly, the vulnerable and frontline workers – around 15 million people – are due to be vaccinated by mid-February, with those aged between 50 and 70 expected to follow in the months after, putting summer holidays back on the agenda.

“We’re seeing more interest in holidays from an age group that wasn’t coming through before, with the over 50s starting to book, we assume, on the back to the positive vaccine news,” TUI UK Managing Director Andrew Flintham said in a statement.

Greece, Turkey and Spain’s Balearic islands were proving popular with those booking, Flintham added.

[Reuters]