The Government’s Latest Advice– Don’t travel! With a key government minister advising Brits not to book holiday travel this summer serving as a backdrop, here is a collection of results from four different surveys of how UK travel consumers are changing and what they are looking for are highlighted.

Number 1. Only five percent of UK adults are confident they will be able to take a holiday abroad this summer, according to the results of a survey last Thursday (Feb. 11) of 5,018 by YouGov research.

One reason for the finding has been the stated position of government officials who are actively discouraging travel by Britons. The government’s transport secretary. Grant Shapps, has urged people not to book holidays in the UK or abroad this summer because it is “just too soon” to say whether they can go ahead.

Shapps said that “people shouldn’t be booking holidays right now—not domestically or internationally,” but added that he was in talks with other governments about allowing people to travel later if they can prove they have been vaccinated. And he urged the British to wait for more clarity when the government introduces and explains its plan to end the state of lockdown in the week of February 22. Others results from the Feb. 11 YouGov snap poll included the following:

—The proportion of young adults (aged 18-24) confident they would have a holiday abroad was higher at 13 percent, but confidence diminished sharply with age: just six percent of 25–49-year-olds expressed confidence, only four percent of 50–65-year-olds and just three percent of over 65-year-olds did so, despite all those over than 50 being on course to be offered vaccination by the end of March.

—YouGov also reported that about one in 10 UK adults have already booked a UK summer holiday this year and almost as many a holiday abroad despite the government’s undermining of confidence to travel.

—Nine percent of respondents have booked a holiday in the UK, seven percent a holiday overseas and two percent have booked holidays both overseas and in the UK.

Number 2. Additional evidence of a continuing shift toward greater use of travel agents by older holidaymakers has been revealed in a new piece of research on the sector. This is the take on the current state of travel agencies in the UK from the recently published “Silver Travel Advisor’s 2021 Industry Report,” which surveyed more than 2,300 older travelers, found that nearly half (49 percent) would use a travel agent “to book a holiday that involves more than just a flight or a hotel booking.” The percentage on this one has grown from 36 percent in January 2020, which was when the last iteration of this report was published. The first of three surveys notes the following points.

Confidence Factor:
—70 percent want to holiday abroad, a significant uptick since July 2020 and an indication of growing confidence in the idea of travelling again.
—57 percent of those without a current booking say they would fly within nine months, which is an increase of 13 percentage points from the 44 percent recorded last July.

Vaccine Impact:
—Almost all Silver Travelers (95 percent) are happy to have the vaccine.

—77 percent would travel within six months of receiving it, but 34 percent do not intend to travel at all or, at least, not right now

Effect on Spending:
—86 percent say they will spend as much or more on travel in the next year, suggesting this age group has not been hit financially as hard as some

Cruise Sector:
—Just about half (49 percent) of existing ocean cruisers are eager to cruise within a year, and another 34 percent will be happy to sail again with a vaccine. However, 17 percent won’t return.
—75 percent of non-cruisers would consider a river cruise, but 14 percent of existing river cruisers say they won’t return to the water.

Agents:
—52 percent of those surveyed cited the “reassurance of having someone to help if needed” or “my agent helped me get a refund” as reasons for booking with an agent.

Insurance:
—More than nine out of every 10 of those surveyed (93 percent) say full COVID-19 coverage in travel insurance is essential.

Other Factors:

The report found that financial security, flexible cancellation arrangements and health and safety reassurance are the biggest influences on this market’s choice of travel company, while destinations will be chosen according to their COVID rating, flight frequency, access to medical facilities and the quarantine rules on return to the UK.

Discussing the survey’s findings, Debbie Marshall, managing director of Silver Travel Advisor, said: ““With its cancellations and challenges over refunds, the past year has highlighted the value of booking through a travel agent. The reassurance of having an agent to act as intermediary if things go wrong, as well as the advice and expertise they offer, is what seems to have driven up the number of people saying they would book with an agent.”

A Note on Methodology: Silver Travel Advisor is an advice and reviews site for over-50s. Its findings were based on three surveys of registered users last year, in May, July and November, plus a poll of older customers of Advantage Travel Partnership agents in January 2021. Six out of 10 respondents were aged 60-69; 75 percent were retired; and two in three were “broadly in good health.”

Number 3. “Hunger” for travel shows up in IHG survey of 2,000 people. In addition to the hunger, Britons seem to manifest degrees of anxiety and impatience as the calendar tells us that the peak travel season is not that far off. Check out the following findings from a recently released survey by IHG Hotels & Resorts.

—More than half (57 percent) of Brits have already rebooked, or plan to rebook, cancelled holidays, according to new research.

—Fifty-eight percent of UK residents have cancelled three or more breaks in 2020 including family holidays and travel for work.

—Family holidays and visiting loved ones are at the top of the travel wish lists for 2021.

—Forty percent of those surveyed said that 2020 was the longest they have ever gone without a trip and almost half (49 percent) think that holidays have positive impact on physical and mental health.

—Thirty-eight percent of those who travel for work say that business travel improves their working mood and makes them more motivated.

—Before the pandemic began to afflict the world of travel, the average adult would have a holiday or mini break every four months, with almost half (47 percent) feeling it’s important to have something to look forward to.

—Still, almost half (43 percent) said they plan to delay traveling until the vaccine is more widely and easily available.

Commenting on the findings, Karin Sheppard, senior vice-president and managing director for Europe at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: “With so many looking forward to rebooking missed experiences, whether it’s travelling to spend time with family, a trip away with friends, or travelling for work—it’s evident that there’s a hunger for human connection again.”

Number 4. Are British travelers online holiday searches similar to the pre-pandemic environment?

Looking at a just released set of results from a Sojern European survey with a UK tilt, Travel Weekly posted a series of takes on the report conducted by the San Francisco -based company known for its high-tech travel search tools and solutions. The research for this endeavor was based on more than 350 million traveler profiles and billions of travel intent signals across Europe. Some notes provided by TW included the following.

—The UK ranks second among European outbound markets searching for summer holidays on the continent – and the rates reflect pre-pandemic levels.

—Nearly 25 percent of European searches for summer holidays were from France, followed by the UK at 19 percent and Italy at 12 percent This pattern has not changed much in comparison to 2019. It also found a “significant shift” towards longer trip durations than in 2019.

—Even so, the report pointed out how inbound travel to the UK has been hit by the tightening of border restrictions.

—Also, travelers from France, the UK and Italy were showing the highest levels of regional travel intent for this summer. Almost 60 percent of regional summer flight searches in 2019 were made by France, Italy and the UK, with about 55 percent of travel intent comes from the same three origin countries.”

—Sojern speculated that the longer trip durations “could reflect the fact that many have not taken a trip abroad in a long time due to the pandemic, or have holiday carried over from work”.

—In 2019, 69 percent of hotel stays were being planned for up to three days. This duration has decreased to 37 percent. Meanwhile, trips of four days or more have almost doubled in popularity from 31 percent to 61 percent.

Safety now drives choice of holiday—especially for older travelers. It used to be that, for Britons, price

was the key factor in determining a holiday package or its key components. Then came last March followed, in quick succession, by the COVID 19 crisis, in-country lockdowns, and closed borders.

Survey research in the second and early third quarter last year seemed to indicate that most UK travelers were still holding out hope against reality that something, anything, would happen that would enable them to take their holidays. Nothing happened.

While British consumers have resigned themselves to the reality that a 2021 holiday is now open to question—if only enough of the world’s population would receive vaccinations for the COVID-19 virus—what has changed over the past half-year, is that priorities about what is important to a holiday have change.

Tracking surveys undertaken during the second half of 2020 by the UK-based AllClear Travel Insurance shows how the priorities and concerns as to what the key considerations are when making a travel purchase have changed. (The research was conducted online by customer insights company MaruBlue at intervals during 2020—in June, July, November and December 2020. Each research sample polled a representative audience of 2,000 UK adults.)

The surveys found that:

—Demand for a summer holiday was high after the first lockdown, with two thirds of those surveyed wanting an overseas holiday in the summer.
—Safety was the top priority, rather than price, with more than two in five respondents (44 percent) wanting to visit a country with a good COVID-19 record.

—More than a third (36 percent) said having the best insurance cover possible, covering them for COVID-19, was top of their agenda.
—Over 55s were more likely to pick a destination based on its perceived COVID-19 safety record (56 percent vs. 28 percent of those under 34).

The Year Ahead—What It Looks Like: AllClear also tracked consumer sentiment towards travel at each pivotal point of the last year: the lockdowns, the tier levels in the UK, and the response to the vaccines—to give forecasts for what the industry will look like in 2021. 

—AllClear found that of those UK adults surveyed last year, they were prepared to spend £1,335 ($1,824) more than they would usually on their holidays to ensure their trips would be as safe as possible. This rose to £1,644 ($2,247) for those with underlying health issues. 
—In the autumn of 2020, when UK restrictions began to tighten, the number of people looking to book a short-haul break had doubled from 24 percent in July to 51 percent in November and the demand for long-haul travel had tripled, up from 10 percent in July to 30 percent in November.
—The research suggested that staycations rose in popularity, with 17 percent of those looking to book a getaway opting for a villa or private house, compared to just 5 percent who were choosing to book a cruise. 
—With news of a possible vaccine announced near the end of 2020, more than half of the respondents (55 percent) said they would feel comfortable going on holiday again as traveling came a top priority for plans in 2021.

U.S. Not seen as that safe: Australia and New Zealand emerged as destinations people think are safest to visit now – even though they can’t due to current travel restrictions. Respondents believed southern and northern Europe would be safe to visit within 12 months (56 percent for each), almost one in two believed the Caribbean would be safe in a year and the U.S., South America and southern Asia will be off limits for at least a year, according to survey results.

• Meanwhile, consumers have little confidence in Summer 2021 overseas holidays:  Results of a recent YouGov online survey of more than 3,500 UK adults revealed that only nine percent are confident that they’ll be taking an overseas holiday this summer, while 74 percent were not confident. The survey was conducted January 20.

Nothing quite measures up to the breadth and depth of information on the UK’s travel and tourism industry that one receives in the Travel Weekly Annual Report. Produced by TW in association with Deloitte, the tome (its PDF version is 56 pages long) is released just prior to the year-end holidays and, INBOUND believes, might not get the reach of attention in the United States that it deserves for the knowledgeable insight and understanding of the nation of 68 million people that happens to be the largest overseas source market for tourism to the United States.  

Sending, as it does, about one out of every overseas 10-plus visitors who arrive in the U.S. each year, it is important for those of us in the travel and tourism industry in the USA to understand the whims and ways and likes of the British traveler.

As for the statement that says it all, few could do as well as Alistair Pritchard, lead partner, Travel and Aviation, Deloitte LLP, in his summary notice: “The COVID-19 pandemic forced people and businesses around the world to adapt overnight to a new way of living and working,” he said, adding, “Despite the initial disruption, we witnessed immense resilience. Businesses banded together to find innovative ways to address customer needs while putting the health, safety and wellbeing of their workforce and consumers first.”

As seems to be the graphic fashion these days, the TW Insight/Report zaps the reader’s senses with a word cloud of facts, figures and word-pairs that require some translation, which we’ve provided in the list below.

Key Findings

—31 percent of those surveyed are planning an overseas holiday this year; this is down by 22 percentage points vs. last year.

—Onein two fear having to self-isolate on holiday.

—45 percent plan a domestic holiday; this is down 22 percentage points year-on-year.

—Two in five travelers plan to avoid a “busy destination.”

—Half fear catching COVID while on holiday.

—Two in five are concerned about flying.

—Twice as many 16-34-year-olds are as happy to fly as over-55-year-olds.

—Two-thirds (68 percent) won’t fly long-haul till they can be vaccinated.

—Two out of three over-45-year-want ATOL (Airline Travel Organizer License) protection for their holiday.

—More than half (53 percent) want a refund guarantee for their trip/package.

—More than a quarter (27 percent) are concerned about the impact of tourism in a destination.

—Half of overseas holidaymakers plan on booking an “all-inclusive” this year.

—Two in five people plan to spend more on their holiday in 2021 than they did last year.

—One in five plans to book with a high street agent.

Source: Service Science/Kantar

Recovery Will Come, We Just Don’t Know How Quickly: One factor hampering the UK numbers crunchers at TW and elsewhere is a simple, but very taxing reality: “Some of the data to which all of those who observe tourism-related matters refer just isn’t there,” explains Ian Taylor, executive editor at TW UK, adding, “no one can judge with certainty what bookings will be like four weeks hence and with three major sources of industry data unavailable. The survey behind UK Office for National Statistics’ outbound and inbound data is suspended, as is the GB Tourism Survey which supplies domestic data. In addition, GfK has unhappily ceased collating outbound booking data.”

What research there is, Taylor said, “suggests a substantially reduced number of overseas holidays in 2021. But counter to some forecasts, it suggests no significant change in the type of holiday, no great switch to the outdoors or away from luxury hotels, and no shift away from all-inclusive. There also appears no great acceleration in embrace of technology, albeit this may simply be taken for granted.”

1. The UK Holiday Market

—27 million: the number of UK adults who take at least one overseas holiday in a normal year.

—16.5 million: the number who intend to take an overseas holiday in 2021

—36.4 million: the number of UK adults who take at least one domestic break in a normal year.

—24.3 million: the number who intend to take a UK break in 2021.

Source for above: Service Science Kantar

2. UK Outbound Holiday Market, Pre-COVID*

—50 percent: Percentage of Britons who took at least one overseas holiday in 2019 (Down four percent YoY)

—24 percent: Percentage of Britons who took two or more overseas holidays in 2019 (Up one percentage point YoY)

3. UK Holiday Market, Pre-COVID*

—86 percent: Number of Britons who took an overseas holiday who also had a domestic break (Down three percentage points YoY)

4. UK Domestic Holiday Market, Pre-COVID*

—67 percent: Percentage of Britons who took at least one domestic holiday a year in 2019 (Down four percent YoY)

—40 percent: Percentage of Britons who took two or more domestic holidays in 2019 (Down five percentage points YoY)

To see the complete report, visit here.

(Ed. Note: the following article was completed just prior to reports that a new strain of the COVID-19 virus had struck the UK)

The United Kingdom, the top overseas source market for the U.S., seems headed for a spike in bookings early in 2021. Even as the pandemic seems to punish the British disproportionately, they have held on to their holiday hopes. (By mid-December, COVID-19 HAD caused more than 65,000 deaths and had infected 1.9 million people in the UK.)

What a difference a week makes. As the tourism industry in the United Kingdom was set to be the subject of grim forecasts—the British travel trade media is awash with outlooks and prognostications this time of the year—there came December 8th and, almost overnight, hope and confidence were the themes threading themselves throughout the news.

December 8, you see, was the day and University Hospital in Coventry, England was the place when Nurse May Parsons administered a just-approved COVID-19 vaccine into the upper left arm of almost 91-year-old Margaret Keenan. Keenan happily called the early morning procedure (it took place at 6:31 GMT) the “best early birthday present.”

Ms. Keenan’s cheerful assessment of the situation, taking place in the midst of another lockdown brought on by the coronavirus-driven global pandemic, reminded INBOUND of something special about the British character and how it deals with adversity.

Ms. Keenan was a child of 10 and old enough to remember what began on September 7, 1940. That’s when the German Luftwaffe launched a bombing campaign on London that proceeded for 56 out of the following 57 days and nights.

Coventry, Margaret Keenan’s home town, also suffered severe bomb damage during the Second World War. In addition to those day/night bombing runs targeting London, the Luftwaffe, there was an action called Operation Moonlight Sonata that was part of the “Coventry Blitz” on November 14, 1940 and carried on to the morning of November 15, 1940, destroying the historic Coventry Cathedral (built 1095-1102), which would have turned 900 years old in 2102.

It’s more than likely that Ms. Keenen experienced the event, and its memory has been part of who she was and is for the next 80-plus years. And the thing this tells us about the Brits who survived and whose children learned about the London and Coventry bombings is that … they are not to be trifled with. Whether it’s a thunderstorm of bombs, a pandemic or no pandemic, they will survive, persist and carry on. (And they’ll take their holidays, too.)

All of the above, then, reinforces what those in the U.S. inbound tourism have already known for some time, and we salute them for it: Brits want to take their holidays. And some of the survey information we have received this month, and which follows, affirms this want and desire.

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Surge in Booking Activity follows announcement of effective COVID-19 vaccines. Within days of the announcement that a vaccine to combat the coronavirus was made and would be distributed in the UK, the British travel trade and business press began referring to a bookings “bounce”—one that continued since. The trade reported two identifiable spikes in demand, for December, and for 2021 and 2022.

According to the UK edition of Travel Weekly (TW), British travel agents reported further week-on-week sales growth due to the vaccine news. Some other TW notes:

—Sales for Barrhead Travel, one of the UK’s largest travel agents, were up 30-40 percent, week on week. One Barrhead official commented, “The vaccine has definitely brought hope to prospective holidaymakers. We hope that as details of the vaccine rollout become clearer, the pent-up demand for travel will follow.”

—Advantage Travel Partnership reported demand for “bucket list” trips in 2021 and 2022 as well as for imminent travel. Sales have continued to rise since an initial 62 percent increase in week-on-week sales in the week after the vaccine announcement. In total, 84 percent of bookings were for 2021.

—Jonathon Woodall, chief operating officer for Hays Travel, noted that “Customers have been waiting for the chance to book a much-needed holiday at the end of what has been a very difficult year for us all.”

—Individual agencies in Tier 3* areas told TW that the market was tough because of tighter restrictions and difficulties getting COVID-19 tests, but bookings were coming through.

—On the other hand, Jill Waite, director of Pole Travel in Failsworth, said that the agency had received “a couple of bookings … but you can’t go anywhere without a test. People are nervous about booking.”

—Said Oliver Broad, joint managing director of RB Collection: “We are feeling more positive this week.  We’ve had our best booking day for a long time.  In Tier 3 there is no legal basis to stop you going on holiday but it’s a sensitive subject. We have to be delicate with our marketing.”

*The British government has categorized every area in the country according to a three level: Tier 1 communities are on Medium Alert; Tier 2 communities are on High Alert; and Tier 3 communities are on Very High Alert. For a complete list of government restrictions imposed because of the pandemic, visit:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/full-list-of-local-restriction-tiers-by-area

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Are we at the “Beginning of the End of Pandemic Restrictions?” Meanwhile, a recent study of winter bookings by firm Adara, a research and marketing firm headquartered in Palo Alto, California and with offices in London, Chicago, New York, Paris, Singapore and Japan. tells us that the UK leads European consumers in willingness to travel internationally. Other info-bytes from their study:

—Travelers across Europe are either booking at the very last minute or far in advance as, overall, COVID-19 continues to create uncertainty.

—Bookings spiked after announcements noting the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

—There was a one-day booking surge of nearly 20 percent in the UK after the Pfizer pharmaceutical company’s announcement of its 95-percent effective COVID-19 vaccine.

—There was another 10 percent bump related to Moderna’s vaccine announcement and 28 percent after an announcement by AstraZeneca about its vaccine. AstraZeneca’s announcement also led to a 154 percent week-on-week increase in searches for international holidays,

—Britons make up more than one-fifth (23 percent) of all international bookings from the EMEA region, while France was in second at 12 percent. Germany and Portugal were tied for third at 8 percent; Spain was at 6 percent and Italy 5 percent.

—The UK is also booking “vastly more” overseas holidays than domestic with 81 percent of holiday breaks by UK travelers international (most within Europe) and just 19 percent for in-country.

—Even so, uncertainty over the COVID-19 crisis is still having a “huge impact” on booking behaviors, the Adara study noted, adding, “Customers are either booking and departing almost immediately or are looking at dates in the future when they perhaps believe there will be normality around trave.”.

—The report also pointed out that travel windows for booking travel remain much shorter than in previous years with the 0-14-day window taking 30 percent share of the bookings for winter.

—At the same, time bookings over 90 days in advance are also accounting for 30 percent of bookings as people are hoping that vaccines or effective lockdowns mean they can plan for months out.

“Pre-COVID, said the report, the-last minute booking window accounted for just 18 percent of bookings, adding, “as we approach Christmas and rules are relaxed for the festive period, we can expect to see a last-minute spike in booking activity as people travel home.”

Adara chief marketing officer Carlyn Corda noted, “However, the appetite for booking holidays is still there. We know that the desire to explore is a fundamental human drive, and that travel is set for a big bounce-back as vaccines roll out and people feel more comfortable.”

“We are at the beginning of the end of the pandemic restrictions,” she predicted, “but while we wait for the impact of global vaccine programs, travel-loving Brits will find ways to scratch their holiday itch–if they can do so safely and securely.”

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But Stay off the Plane if You Haven’t Been Jabbed: A new poll whose results were released as the first UK patients were inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine suggests that Britons are happy for air travel to be limited to those who have been vaccinated against the virus. 

More than half (about 54 percent) of the 1,700 who took part in a Sky News/YouGov survey agreed it would be acceptable for those who haven’t had the vaccine to be banned from flights. However, it will take several months for the whole of the UK population to be vaccinated and, according to Sky News, almost 30 percent of Brits are still unsure whether they want the vaccine.

Those who do receive the COVID inoculations will receive a card showing the date they were inoculated, but the government insists this is not intended to be used as an “immunity passport.” Even so, an independent booking and healthcare management app, myGP, is planning to add a COVID-19 vaccination status to user profiles.

The new ‘myGP TICKet’ function, due to be launched next February, will show whether the user has received the Covid-19 vaccination with a green tick. The company says this could be used to allow them entry to venues, which would no longer need to put social distancing measures in place.

#1. Magazine boosts role of operator—says package holidays are cheaper. The widely read UK consumer magazine Which?—it refers to itself as a “consumer champion”—gave a boost for tour operators in a recent issue. Its research on the cost of a holiday indicated that the use of package holidays is cheaper than those put together on a “do-it-yourself” basis. In addition to the matter of overall cost, Which? said that a packaged holiday offers greater protection to the consumers than do-it-yourself booking offer.

As reported by Travel Weekly UK, the Which? study said that package holidays were better value in eight out of 10 cases. The magazine studied the price of the cheapest packages available online from five UK airports from both Jet2holidays and Tui and compared them with the cost of identical DIY holidays. “Holidaymakers opting for packages could save hundreds of pounds on the cost of their trip, while also avoiding the risk of losing their money if they can’t travel due to government restrictions, lockdown or if their airline or hotel goes bust.” For more on Which? and its work, visit https://www.which.co.uk/.

#2. USA is one of the top preferences in a survey of would-be travelers. The at-home travel agent group, Not Just Travel, has reported that it has experienced a 5 percent year-on-year increase in bookings on the back of a weekly spike in demand. While we don’t know what kind of methodology the group used in its survey, it is safe to say, on the basis of trade media accounts elsewhere, it is probably correct. There have been numerous testimonials from travel and tourism professionals suggesting that there is a substantial pent-up demand on the part of travel consumers. Not Just Travel reported a 62 percent increase in inquiries for the week ending Nov. 27, crediting the spike to positive news revolving about COVID-19 vaccine trials and the Christmas holidays ahead of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. Not Just Travel said that it is probable that the traditional post-Christmas peak booking period is being pulled forward as a result. (The early weeks/weekends are known simple as “The Peaks” for the UK travel industry.) The activity is good news for U.S. destinations and travel suppliers, as Not Just Travel reported that the top destinations booked for 2021-22 are the United States, Canary Islands, Dubai, Lapland and Maldives.

#3 Are cut-rate deals a sign of growing consumer confidence? The UK travel trade publication Travel Mole reports a “Glimmer of hope for operators as cut-price deals drive bookings upturn … as operators and airlines have released a fresh wave of cut price deals as hopes rise that consumer confidence may slowly be returning.”

TM said that, while the immediate picture remains bleak, with much of the winter market having  been written off, “a rush of Black Market offers,” coupled with vaccine developments, a reduced quarantine period and news that consumers even in the harshest of post-lockdown tiers can travel overseas, has given consumers and operators a lift.

Overall, TM reported, Wendy Wu Tours, Virgin Atlantic Holidays, Newmarket Holidays, Icelandair, Cathay Pacific, Ryanair, TUI, On the Beach, EasyJet Holidays, and Virgin Atlantic, to name a few, have offered deals. “Operators hope the introduction of cut-rate price packages and flights, at a time when consumer morale is showing sign of improving, will clinch sales,” reported TM, with many bookings, it seems, for Q2 and Q3 dates.

#4. And now the glum news: A study of travel anxiety study has found that 70 percent of Brits feel nervous about the future of travel with COVID-19 still around. In what should come as no surprise to anyone in the tourism industry, the specialist travel insurance company Medical Travel Compared surveyed some 2,000 holidaymakers from across the UK to reveal the future of travel in a COVID-19 world. In a news release the company attached some numbers regarding everything from catching the virus abroad to having to quarantine upon arrival.

According to Medical Travel Compared: Despite the increase in COVID travel fears, just 1 in 4 Britons are concerned about having to quarantine when they arrive back home from a holiday abroad. Even fewer (6 percent) fear being tested for COVID-19 in an airport. Low morale around travel is evident, with the survey revealing that 48 percent think they won’t be able to travel as often as they would like to in the future as a direct result of the pandemic. 

The research also unveiled what parts of traveling abroad the UK has missed the most this year. Tops was the weather—63 percent state they miss this aspect of travel the most. Exploring new places (62 percent) and downtime away from the day-to-day/a chance to relax and unwind (54 percent) took second and third places.