Staycations boom: Families weigh-up traffic hell at home over queue chaos at the airports

5

View
comments

Budget holiday operators are preparing for a bumper summer as Britain’s families weigh up whether to risk airport and flight chaos going abroad or remain in the UK for a staycation in the coming months.

Haven, which has 41 holiday parks in the UK, is already more than 90 per cent booked for Easter with nearly half of its 2.5million visitors this year booking for the first time – while Parkdean Resorts, which has 66 parks, is having to hire 7,000 seasonal workers across sales, food, drink and housekeeping to keep up with record-breaking demand.

Travel experts told MailOnline that the ongoing flight chaos amid staff shortages will be a ‘bonus for the staycation economy’ with families already considering whether to risk last-minute flight cancellations or stay in Britain.

But the staycation boom is not being seen across all parts of the industry, with bookings for Airbnb properties in the South West down by 15 per cent compared to 2021 – and demand appearing to have returned to 2019 levels.  

And UK resorts could also face issues attracting families who are still trying to use booking vouchers for foreign holidays because of cancelled flights or trips in the past few years, which makes them less likely to stay in Britain.

Others will have had their holiday budget squeezed or wiped out completely by cost-of-living pressures which are set to leave £900 British households worse off this year in a ‘historic fall’ in living standards according to PwC. 

It comes after a week of chaotic scenes across UK airports – with passengers facing long queues for security, lengthy waits at baggage reclaim and hundreds of flights cancelled every day amid a lack of staff due to Covid sickness and airlines attempting to quickly restaff following a downsizing of operations during the pandemic. 

Today, British Airways axed at least 64 domestic or European flights to or from London Heathrow. Affected routes were to and from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Berlin, Dublin, Geneva, Paris and Stockholm. 

BA said passengers were given advanced warning of the cancellations. The airline decided last month it would reduce its schedule until the end of May to limit the need to cancel flights at short notice due to staff shortages.

EasyJet cancelled at least 25 flights to or from London Gatwick, affecting routes to and from Amsterdam, Glasgow, Copenhagen and Milan. There has been a surge in demand for flights as many families have travelled abroad for Easter, which are the first holidays since the UK’s coronavirus restrictions for international travellers were dropped.

But those staying in the UK also face travel chaos as record numbers plan an Easter trip and disruption at Dover continues. The RAC said 21.5million drivers are preparing to take to the roads ahead of the four-day weekend.

Haven, which is Britain’s largest domestic holiday business, said it is expecting more newcomers to its 41 resorts than ever before this year – and recent travel disruption is also making more people consider staying in the UK.

The company’s managing director Simon Palethorpe told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning: ‘I think it [the travel disruption] has made people think a bit more about holidaying at home. 

‘More generally things are looking pretty positive for our industry at the moment. This Easter for example, Haven – which is actually the UK’s largest domestic holiday business – is over 90 per cent booked, and more generally this year we’re going to be welcoming 2.5million holidaymakers to our 41 parks. 

‘And we’re seeing more newcomers to Haven, which is I think pretty interesting, more newcomers than ever. This year we’re going to see somewhere north of one million new holidaymakers trying us out. So we’re very excited about that.’

Asked whether cost pressures are affecting Haven, and whether the company is having to put up prices, Mr Palethorpe continued: ‘We’re definitely seeing some inflation coming through in some of our costs, but we still represent great value for money.’

He added: ‘I’d say there’s a few things that are happening at the moment. In terms of where are the costs for someone wanting a three-night break are concerned, we’re at levels still that are comparable to 2019. What you will see is a bit less discounting in the market because the demand is so strong. 

‘So it’s not a simple case of prices rising – it is actually more complex than that. So you see a bit less discounting – but there’s still absolutely fabulous value for money to be had out there. Where else could you get a 2022 three-night break for £69?’

Mr Palethorpe also said that concerns over congestion on the roads are not affecting demand at Haven, because the majority of customers visit from within two hours’ drive of the parks. 

He added that there are currently about 10,500 members of its team on parks at the moment, but the company will peak at about 12,500 in the summer. Almost 80 per cent of the staff are seasonal – such as lifeguards, chefs, kitchen managers, bar staff and accommodation teams. 

On wages, Mr Palethorpe said:  ‘We are paying a little bit more, and that’s just us adjusting to where the market is.’ 

Another major UK holiday park operator, Parkdean Resorts, is also enjoying the results of a staycation boom and plans to invest £140million on its accommodation and facilities across its 66 UK parks this year.

The investment includes more than 850 new caravans and lodges, new developments at 16 parks and refubuishm chalets and lodges. It has said advance bookings are at record levels and it is also launching a recruitment drive for 7,000 seasonal jobs.

Parkdean chief executive Steve Richards said: ‘This investment is great news for our customers, staff and the local economies in which we operate.’

He added: ‘2021 was a huge year for staycations, and our teams will continue to go above and beyond to deliver phenomenal service for our guests, making sure that 2022 is even better.’ 

And Dan Yates, founder and managing director of Pitchup.com, an outdoor accommodation search and booking platform, told MailOnline: “Overall, bookings through Pitchup.com year-to-date are up 97 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

‘We’d attribute that to a combination of factors – a renewed discovery of the great holiday destinations across the UK prompted by enforced staycations of the past two summers, simpler to organise than trips abroad given ongoing Covid rates and changing travel restrictions, and also lower cost.

‘It seems that late booking is the order of the day, which is unsurprising given the uncertainty caused by the rising number of cases, compounded by airport and airline chaos.’

He said that average lead times between booking and arrival for stays booked in 2022 so far is 81 days, as opposed to 110 days for the same period in 2021.

But Mr Yates continued: “This is, however, a bit of a risky strategy given the early sellouts of key UK destinations over the past two summers. We’d advise booking ahead to get the best options.

“We’ve seen a spike in last minute bookings over this past weekend for arrivals across next weekend’s Easter bank holiday – 35 per cent up compared to the same period in 2019, much of which is likely attributable to those keen to get away but avoid the widely-reported chaos at airports.”

It comes as cancellations for air passengers are expected to continue amid staff shortages and workers being absent with Covid.

There was more misery for fliers yesterday after British Airways cancelled another 82 flights and easyJet slashed 38. 

Richard Moriarty, the Civil Aviation Authority chief executive, warned in recent days: ‘As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic and consumers take advantage of the freedom to travel, instances of late notice cancellations and excessive delays at airports are not just distressing for affected consumers but have the potential to impact confidence levels across the industry, at just the point when passengers are returning to flying.’ 

And Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told MailOnline today: ‘If long queues at airports and flight cancellations by airlines continue for too much longer then some consumers will be put off from travelling abroad. 

‘Ongoing staff shortages add more risk to a trip because consumers won’t want to be potentially out of pocket from last-minute cancellations and having to fork out for new flights or an extra night in an hotel.

‘With the potential for an overseas trip to be badly affected, more consumers, especially families, are already booking to stay in a UK cottage, house or hotel by the coast or in the countryside.

‘Staycations will be highly popular again this year and airport and flight chaos will be a bonus for the staycation economy. We just have to hope for continuing great weather.’ 

Temperatures could reach 21C (70F) in eastern and South East England by Thursday, as warm as Nice in the south of France. 

And highs of up to 20C (68F) are possible into Good Friday and Easter Saturday, with the rest of the Easter weekend likely to remain fine and dry in most areas. 

However, booking numbers at Airbnbs in the UK compiled by AirDNA for the Daily Telegraph showed that demand in April 2022 was down on last year.

It had fallen 15 per cent for properties in Penzance, 10 per cent in Plymouth and 8 per cent in Falmouth.

VisitEngland says up to 7.4 million people are planning an overnight holiday in Britain for the Easter weekend, which brings levels back in line with those of 2019, before the pandemic began. 

Figures for Easter 2019 were the highest on record – and up from 4.8million in 2018 and 6.6million in 2017.

The organisation’s chief executive Patricia Yates told the Daily Telegraph that the UK tourism industry is concerned that Britons are now very keen to go abroad now travel restrictions have been lifted, but added that international travellers ‘are not quite coming back at the pace we need them to’.

Talking about 2022 demand matching 2019 levels, Ms Yates added: ‘That’s good in that it gets us on the road to recovery, but it’s not brilliant.’

Meanwhile motorists face a week of travel chaos as record numbers plan an Easter Bank Holiday getaway and disruption at Dover continues.

The RAC warned major roads risk becoming gridlocked as a record 21.5million drivers are preparing to take to the roads during the forthcoming four-day weekend.

Its research showed Good Friday is set to be the busiest, with 4.62million trips planned, followed by Easter Monday, when just under 4million drivers are expected to be on the roads.

A further 7.2million will jump behind the wheel on Saturday and Sunday with another 5.6million, as yet undecided on which day to travel, doing so between Friday and Monday.

Holidaymakers are being urged not to set off after 9am or before 7.30pm and avoid some of the busiest routes.

The roads are expected to be much busier than usual due to a mini-heatwave being forecasted and a widespread shutdown of the railways over the long weekend.

More than 500 engineering works are taking place across the UK amid strikes on vast swathes of northern rail routes. 

It will create mayhem for the thousands of football fans travelling to London for the FA Cup semi-finals, between Manchester City and Liverpool and Chelsea and Crystal Palace, at Wembley stadium. The FA has urged fans not to travel by rail.

It comes as severe disruption on roads in Kent leading to cross-Channel services looks set to continue for several days.

The bottlenecks have been caused by soaring numbers of drivers looking to reach the Continent for Easter getaways and the suspension of P&O Ferries services.

P&O ships will not sail from Dover to Calais again until at least Thursday, with rival carriers struggling to soak up the extra demand. It has also caused Eurotunnel in Folkestone to become overwhelmed.

The disgraced firm’s ships are yet to be cleared as fit to sail by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency after it brutally sacked 800 staff and replaced them with cheaper agency workers.

Continent-bound motorists have reported being stuck in traffic for six hours on coast-bound Kent roads.

A more than 20-mile stretch of the M20 has been closed to store more than 4,000 lorries as part of Operation Brock.

Yesterday hauliers reported delays of ’20 to 25 hours’ for crossing the Channel. Those carrying perishable goods urged the authorities to prioritise them before their products, including meat and dairy, go bad.

Graham Eardley, boss of meat haulier Eardley International, said: ‘Our products have a very short shelf life… the quality and the sale value of that product falls by every hour it is delayed.’ 

Non-freight traffic is being advised to use the A20 instead of the M20.

To make matters worse, getaways look certain to be the most expensive on record due to sky-high fuel prices.

There could also be diesel or petrol shortages at some service stations due to protesting eco-warriors blocking off fuel terminals, slowing down deliveries.

The RAC’s traffic spokesman, Rod Dennis, said: ‘After two years of relatively quiet Easter bank holidays on the roads, our research suggests a return to traffic levels that are much more typical of this time of year.

‘Add in the impact of disruption on the rail network and one of the biggest fixtures of the sporting calendar taking place this weekend and you have all the ingredients needed for problems on the roads.’ 

He urged motorists to do basic checks such as on oil and coolant levels before setting off to avoid breakdowns creating bottlenecks.

National Highways said it was lifting more than a thousand miles of roadworks for the busy period.

But during peak hours, drivers are still being urged to avoid the M6 north-bound between Junction 26 (Orrell Interchange, Greater Manchester) and J36 (the Lake District), the M25 clockwise from J8 (Reigate Hill Interchange, Surrey) to J16 (Denham Interchange, Buckinghamshire) and the A303 near Stonehenge, Wiltshire.

The M6 south-bound between J20 (near Warrington) and J16 (Stoke-on-Trent) and the M3 north-bound between J3 (Eastleigh) and J7 (Basingstoke) should also be avoided.

Bob Pishue, analyst at traffic data specialists INRIX, said: ‘Drivers should expect congestion on major roadways around urban areas and popular destinations.’