Are Britons bored of staying at home and mopping up the garden?  Or do bargain prices and swine flu fears mean the great 2009 staycation’s alive and well? Ask tour operators about the late summer market, and you get vastly differing interpretations:

KIRKER HOLIDAYS
Ted Wake, Director of Sales & Marketing, comments: “Holiday booking patterns over the last month offer a real indication that clients are fed up with the weather, and that the last thing on their mind is the prospect of staying at home to mop up the garden. In particular, breaks to Italy are back up to the record levels achieved last year – the main reason being that value for money this year is better than ever. A great number of people have woken up to the fact that, if they have a special occasion to celebrate this year, they should take the decision to book a holiday abroad, and are more definite than ever it will be a wonderful experience that they truly deserve.”  (www.kirkerholidays.com)
NB: Bookings made with Kirker Holidays during July for overseas departures this month are currently £100K ahead of budget.  Bookings made with Kirker for overseas departures in August are already at last year’s levels.

EXPLORE WORLDWIDE
Ashley Toft, Managing Director, says:  “The last two weeks’ trading have been the strongest for us since January, even outperforming the same weeks last year, suggesting that people have indeed decided the fabled British barbecue summer is another Met Office myth.  Notably, our October half-term family tours are all but full – and we’re looking at extra departures for that period.  These are perhaps families that missed the summer holiday period, banking on balminess, and are now determining to take a later dash for some sun. The apparent death of the staycation certainly pleases us in this sense!

“All that being said, we cant quite hear staycations’ death knell just yet.  Introduced for the first time this year, our devoted UK breaks programme has almost completely sold out, including hastily-provided extra departures. Then again, these are staycations with an Explore twist – cycling in the Cotswolds, climbing Ben Nevis, walking in the Outer Hebrides – and perhaps they appeal to a sub-species of staycationers who refuse to be dissuaded by a typically inclement early summer?”  (www.explore.co.uk)

SUNVIL HOLIDAYS
Noel Josephides, Managing Director, says: “Sunvil has seen a healthy rise in demand for late bookings to Greece in the past two weeks. Staying in the UK is all very well, but if the Britsh summer lives up to its generally wet expectations, people start to book late deals to the Med where the sunshine is more or less guaranteed. Our last minute late bookings to Greece are currently selling better than last year for this reason.”  (www.sunvil.co.uk)

CLASSIC COTTAGES
Simon Tregoning, Managing Director, comments: “We are finding people are booking very last minute holidays this summer, within the next couple of weeks, or dates within the next four to six weeks, which indicates that Britons are still keen on ‘staycationing’ this year. Last week, for instance, bookings were up 31% on the same week last year and the recent poor weather does not seem to be putting people off staying in the UK. Value for money is a key concern and our booking office has also received comments that customers are happy to avoid the risk of picking up swine flu in airports, planes and hotels.”  (www.classic.co.uk)

WILDERNESS SCOTLAND & WILDERNESS JOURNEYS
Stevie Christie, Director, says: “While bookings for Scotland at the start of the year were very strong, up to 30% above 2008 figures, they are now more in line with what we had expected. However, at this stage in the summer we have limited late availability and are still receiving plenty of enquiries for Scottish breaks so staycations are still in people’s minds.

He adds: “Having said this, we have noticed a definite increase in bookings for our overseas trips with Wilderness Journeys in the past three months. In particular, we’ve seen a surge in bookings in the last month for European summer breaks such as sea kayaking in Sardinia and mountain biking in Spain, and to destinations outside the Eurozone including Malawi and Kenya. With a barbecue summer failing to appear so far, people may be deciding they need a fix of sunny weather after all. Overall, overseas bookings are on course to be 20% above our target this year, and significantly better than our forecasts in March and April.”  (www.wildernessscotland.com / www.wildernessjourneys.com)

AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators)
Derek Moore, Chairman, says: “It’s fair to say that the British summer has been our best friend once again this year. Back in June, bookings were sluggish such was the fantastic weather in the UK, whereas now our members are inundated with calls from desperate holidaymakers who can’t face any more rain. In saying this, we have a number of domestic tour operators and they are also selling well, the early warm summer encouraged people to book in the UK for their August holidays so it’s generally been a win-win situation.”
www.aito.com