UK staycation frenzy as campsites 72% up on bookings in month over flight fears

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Flight cancellations, passport delays and long queues at airports around the country have spurred Britons to book in hotspots like Devon, Yorkshire and Cornwall. Bookings for UK campsites sites are up 72 percent in the past month compared to the same period pre-pandemic, Parksite.com said. Short breaks are in high demand, with average duration for bookings made currently standing at just under three nights.

Dan Yates, founder of Pitchup.com, said: “Over the last two years our campsite owners have told us about many customers that have swapped holidays abroad for stays closer to home and have enjoyed it so much that they plan to continue, and the figures would certainly seem to bear that out.”

Bookings for UK destinations in autumn 2022 are already up by 35 percent compared to 2019, Sykes Holiday Cottages said.

Bloomstays, a holiday firm in Kent, said their bookings remained above pre-pandemic levels.

Co-founder Rowena Owen said: “Staycations are definitely here to stay this summer partly driven by uncertainty around foreign travel… and convenience and ease of staying in Kent.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today urged airlines to “get reliability back into the system again”.

British Airways continues to cancel around 100 daily flights due to staff shortages.

EasyJet cancelled hundreds of flights in the run-up to Easter.

Mr Shapps said airlines “underestimated how much demand there will be”, and a rise in coronavirus cases “would have caused problems” with “a lot of people” off work.

He added: “I am concerned and I’m going to be meeting with some of the airlines who have been routinely cancelling.

“I’m sure it’s in their interest as it is (for) the travelling public to see them get their schedules back together, and I’m meeting with them this week to understand their plans to bring the schedules back together.

“We need to get reliability back into the system again.”

Heathrow Airport’s chief executive John Holland-Kaye said delays in processing passport applications are “really disappointing”.

It emerged on Monday that the Passport Office is dealing with a backlog in applications.

Mr Holland-Kaye said: “Normally the Passport Office is very slick in processing passports. It’s really disappointing to hear (about delays).

“If it’s not resolved, it is going to mean that people can’t get away.

“After two years of lockdown, we need to make sure people can have a good holiday because many of them have vouchers that they’ve been saving up, they’ve got trips of a lifetime that they’ve put on hold, and we don’t know when things might get closed down again.

“Making the most of the summer is vital.”

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