It’s the week of Blue Monday, the nights are long and dark, the days short, wet and gloomy. No wonder holiday sales typically soar in mid-January when we’re at our most desperate for sun, solace and something to get excited about!
And it’s particularly encouraging to see that, despite the ongoing and devastating impact of the pandemic on everyone’s lives, holiday enthusiasm looks to be returning once more this January, fuelled by ‘vaccine confidence’ amongst older UK holidaymakers.
After months of shielding and social isolation, locked-down citizens now find themselves first in line for the UK’s mass vaccination programme, and as such, they’re starting to believe that – unlike last year – a genuine summer getaway might be a possibility in 2021.
Welcome news for domestic tourism
The news of this vaccine confidence offers a much-needed boost for UK tourist operators massively impacted by the pandemic. With scores of buses and coaches laid up for the entirety of 2020, these operators face a make-or-break year when it comes to getting their businesses back on track. Coach and bus tours have always appealed to an older demographic, and while there will still be a need for stringent safety protocols, likely meaning reduced capacity on vehicles, there is a sense of optimism that the recovery might finally be underway for this embattled industry.
What’s more, with doubts persisting as to whether the rest of Europe will be able to match the UK’s vaccination progress, it’s likely that the staycation industry could see the biggest positive impact of all, with customers burned by recent experiences of stop-start travel corridors and quarantines, and reluctant to book anything further afield.
Supporting operators through uncertainty
At ERS, our teams have worked around the clock to lend a hand to brokers and their customers through what has been a series of Covid-induced market challenges during the past 12 months. We’ve returned premium to operators where they have been forced to shut up shop and we’ve offered flexibility across all our fleet policies to help keep vehicles roadworthy and ready-to-go in the event of changing Government restrictions.
We understand how tight the situation is for many bus and coach operators, so we’ve kept our policies as competitive as possible, with our human underwriting expertise coming to the fore to ensure that every customer gets a quote best suited to their individual needs.
We know that the pandemic will continue to impact the bus and coach industry over the coming months, and we remain committed to offering a product that provides the flexibility and security required to help operators navigate these uncertain times with confidence.
We pride ourselves on our bespoke approach to fleet underwriting and believe this is exactly what is required in order to support the industry throughout this challenging period and into the ‘new normal’.
