Staycations out of favour as holidaymakers head for the Med

It's crunch time for pandemic winners as Brits return to sunnier and warmer shores after the pandemic

The harbour at Newlyn fishing village near Penzance, in Cornwall
The harbour at Newlyn fishing village near Penzance, in Cornwall Credit: Andrew Michael/Universal Images Group

Seb Blakemore does not need the sun to be shining for a dip off the Cornish coast. “I go swimming in the sea all the time,” he grins. “It’s definitely milder down here than it seems to be everywhere else.”

Despite his bravery, Blakemore admits guests at his luxury Cornish cottages are a little more discerning when it comes to taking the plunge. Warm weather, he says, is what they are after when they book with The Cornish Way in Penzance. 

“We get an awful lot of people looking ahead at the weather, and calling on a Wednesday or Thursday trying to get down that weekend if it looks like it will be good,” Blakemore says. “Everyone was out swimming in the sea [last] Sunday,” he says. “We had a mini heatwave, you see. It was honestly just like an August day. Absolutely beautiful.”

That may sound picture-perfect, but for many British families it is not enough to be tempted away from foreign getaways this year. 

While pandemic-induced travel restrictions brought about the rise of the “staycation”, swathes of families are now once again opting for holidays in far-flung destinations.

Cancellations for staycations surged 18pc the week after January 5, when the Government announced it was easing travel restrictions, compared to the previous two weeks, according to property management site Guesty. 

Now, as families jet off for Easter breaks, Airbnb owners and restaurants in UK holiday hotspots are experiencing for the first time whether appetite for staycations will hold up in a post-pandemic world.

“The concern in the industry is that now all those travel restrictions have been lifted, Britons are obviously very keen to go abroad,” says Patricia Yates, chief executive of VisitEngland.

At the same time, she says, international travellers “are not quite coming back at the pace we need them to”. 

Booking numbers at UK Airbnbs tell a similar story. Data compiled by AirDNA for the Telegraph suggests demand in April for these properties in Penzance dipped 15pc compared to last year, while those in Plymouth are 10pc lower and in Falmouth down 8pc. 

Yates says this holiday period is crucial for many business owners: “Easter is the traditional time when the British holiday season kicks off. A number of destinations are keeping their fingers crossed for good weather.”

Currently, things appear to have returned to 2019 levels. VisitEngland figures last week suggested around 7.4m Brits are planning an overnight domestic stay over the Easter weekend, in line with pre-pandemic levels. “That's good in that it gets us on the road to recovery, but it's not brilliant,” Yates says. 

Some locations are faring better than others. Kim Sui, who runs the eco-friendly retreat, Hideaway Under the Stars, in Scotland, says bookings are already coming in for 2023. “We’re actually already seeing more foreign visitors coming back as well,” she says. 

Pontcysyllte aqueduct in North Wales
The Pontcysyllte aqueduct in North Wales Credit: ValeryEgorov /iStockphoto

In North Wales, Alistair Edwards says his glamping pod is 99pc full for the summer, from late May onwards. Since starting the business last Spring, and listing the property on Sykes Holiday Cottages, he has hosted more than his fair share of special occasions including anniversaries, birthdays and six proposals.

And the length of the staycation is shifting. “Now it’s mostly two or three night stays,” Edwards says, compared to seven-day breaks in 2021. “These are people who can get here in a couple of hours, they don’t want to get trapped at the airport, they can just come back again and again.”

Weekend getaways are also becoming more common in seaside towns such as Brighton. It comes after years of hoteliers in the city launching campaigns to try to get more people to stay for two or three nights. 

“I’d say it’s because there has been a change in how people think. People’s work-life balance has shifted. They are taking their holidays, they are taking respite during the week,” says Anne Ackord from the Brighton Pier Group, which operates the city’s pier and mini-golf sites at leisure centres.

“So, no, I don't think the staycation boom is over yet. People will still go abroad, but maybe it will be a case of short breaks in this country and longer breaks abroad.”

Down in Cornwall, Blakemore is a little less certain on how things will pan out. “Guests say to me that they have a lot of booking vouchers for foreign holidays because of cancelled flights. They’re desperate to use them, and so maybe those families that usually come to Cornwall at Easter are going abroad instead.”

Still, he isn’t too worried - there are always others who are keen to come. “A lot of the gaps are being filled last-minute by couples,” he says. And when the sun comes out, those trippers cannot move fast enough.

License this content