88% of people won’t be travelling abroad in 2021 with Covid, refund rejections and quarantine the main concerns

Research by Hoo, the hotel room offer platform, has found just 12% of people plan to book a holiday abroad this year, as Covid continues to cause havoc for the travel industry. With 58.7 million of heading abroad on holiday in 2019, a 88% reduction in demand could see this figure fall to just 7m in 2021.

Hoo surveyed over 2,000 people on their holiday plans for the year ahead, as well as the driving factors behind their decision and their thoughts on government travel restrictions.

Hoo asked if they currently plan to book a holiday this year, with the results showing just 12% of people plan to do so. 10% are planning one or two trips, with just 2% aiming to get away three to five times.

Perhaps predictably, Covid is the driving factor behind holidaymaker concerns in 2021. 19% of people stated that having to cancel a holiday due to Covid restrictions was the biggest concern, with a further 19% stating that not being able to get a refund if they did have to cancel was stopping them from booking.

Having to quarantine while on holiday and actually catching the virus were the next most prominent concerns for 17% of UK holidaymakers while quarantining on their return to the UK concerned 15%.

While the government has largely been criticised for its handling of the current pandemic, most recently on their intentions to charge those entering the country to stay at one of their quarantine hotels, the vast majority of UK holidaymakers don’t believe rules should be relaxed.

87% of those asked didn’t believe that government rules around travel should be relaxed while 80% also thought that quarantine hotels are a good idea.

Hoo Co-founder, Adrian Murdock, commented:

“Despite hopes of lockdown easing in the spring, it looks as though many will refrain from making plans to travel abroad this year.

In addition to the threat of Covid itself, there are a whole host of other issues to consider when looking to go abroad, from testing to quarantine, cancellations and refund issues to name but a few.

With new strains of the virus also causing concern, it’s understandable that many holidaymakers just don’t want to commit to something this year.

Of course, this falling demand will cause grave concerns for those in the industry, having already suffered since March of last year.

While the current line from the government is to forget about a summer break in 2021, they will be hoping that the vaccine roll out and a potential easing of restrictions will entice more of us to take a holiday in order to help keep the industry afloat.”