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Egypt Holidays > Travel News > Britain's wet summer sees last-minute holidays soar
Britain's wet summer sees last-minute holidays soar | | 30th July 2008 |
Families who had decided to save money by staying in the UK due to the credit crisis have changed their minds, heading overseas in search of the sun, particularly countries without the strong Euro, such as Turkey and Egypt.
Online travel company On the Beach, which takes 500,000 reservations a year and has two million visitors a month to its website, said its number of bookings in the first week of August was 30 per cent higher than any week in July.
August in Britain has been dogged by almost continual wet weather and several areas of the country have been on flood watch after torrential rain.
Several roads were cut off by floodwater in the west of the country and the chaos spread across central and northern England, Scotland and Wales.
The Met Office issued severe weather warnings while the Environment Agency warned of a flood risk in parts of Wales, the South West and the Cotswolds.
Francis Tuke, from the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta), said the interest in last minute holidays had soared.
"There has been a real rush of inquiries as people are very keen to go away to places where they can get some sunshine," she said.
"It is all a bit desperate - our requirements as holidaymaker are fairly basic. We love sunshine and if the weather is a bit rubbish we want to see some of it."
Paul Nelson, from lastminute.com, said Turkey, Bulgaria and Croatia had all shown spikes in interest in recent weeks.
"With all the bad weather we have seen, there have definitely been increases in traffic online as the summer continues," he said.
Simon Cooper, chief executive of On the Beach - an online travel company which has been operating for four years - said the first 10 days of August had been busier for bookings than any equivalent period in July.
He said the impact of the credit crisis had made people less choosy - they just wanted to go somewhere warm.
"This year people are being more open and have said 'I am looking for sunshine and I will go to the Costa Brava if that is the best value destination'," he said.
"More people are also booking their holidays when they have money earned and in their pocket, rather than in advance, but the weather certainly has an impact."
Last month, Devon County Council accused the Met Office of "crying wolf" over predictions of bad weather, but there was no exaggeration in its forecasts for this week.
An inch of rain fell in a three hours on Tuesday in Devon and Cornwall, bringing misery to campers and holidaymakers.
In Northern Ireland there were predictions that up to two inches (50mm) could fall - the equivalent of half the month's average.
And in Looe, Cornwall, a builder had to run for his life after a landslide sent tons of earth crashing onto his van, and two men spent a night on an isolated beach bear Fowey after their fishing boat overturned in heavy seas.
Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Tourism South West, said the dismal summer coupled with the dire economic climate has seen visitor numbers down by 10 per cent and spending halved.
"It's a great shame that given the depressing nature of the credit crisis we couldn't at least have a bit of sunshine," he said.
"You do see some people braving it on the beaches in the pouring rain - there's something of the Dunkirk spirit among some tourists - but it is pretty miserable for everyone.
"At least our competitors in Brittany and Normandy are suffering as much as us."
In County Down, Northern Ireland, a man in his 40s was killed after his car crashed into a van in heavy rain. Five other motorists had to be rescued after becoming trapped in floodwater.
In the Mourne Mountains nearby, three teenage girls out camping called in the emergency services after their tents were washed out by torrential rain, and their way down was cut off by a swollen river.
Ed Kilgore, chairman of the Mourne Rescue Service, said the girls were "wet and miserable and relieved".
High winds and heavy rain is forecast across central and southern England and Wales on Wednesday, with heavy bursts of rain over northern England, northern Ireland and southern Scotland. |
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