Lockdown easing will lead to staycation boom, research suggests

2 July 2020, 10:25

The lifting of lockdown measures in England from Saturday will lead to seaside destinations booming as people look for summer staycations.

Overnight stays in England will be allowed form Saturday as part of a wide-ranging lifting of lockdown measures across England.

It comes as pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels are permitted to open their doors to the public for the first time in three months and the two metre rule is relaxed to "one metre plus".

Research from Colliers International shows that areas including Plymouth and the Isle of Wight could find themselves benefiting from an increase in staycation tourism.

The hotel sector in Plymouth is expected to recover at a faster rate than any other area in the UK, followed by Blackpool and Cornwall.

They are expected to replace traditional tourist hotspots like London, Cambridge and Oxford, which are likely to be ht by the lack of foreign visitors to the UK this year.

However, more uncommon destinations including Hull, Norwich and Derby have been featured on the list of the places most likely to see a recovery in their tourism sector.

What it's like to fly from the UK in July

It comes as reports suggest the government is set to "abandon" air bridges and as many as 75 countries will be put on a "quarantine-exemption" list for Brits heading abroad, according to reports.

The list, which is set to be published later this week, will lift the ban on non-essential travel to a host of EU destinations and countries including Turkey, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

All 75 on the list have been judged to be sufficiently "low risk" for holidaymakers, with an infection rate that it in decline and state data that can be trusted, the Daily Telegraph reported.

It also means that from Monday, travellers from these countries will no longer need to isolate on their arrival in UK.

However, some of the countries may retain border controls for those entering.

Britain already said on Friday that it would ditch a 14-day quarantine period for people arriving from countries such as France, Greece and Spain.

Countries have been placed on "green", "amber" and "red lists" under the government's traffic light system.

People returning from "green" or "amber" countries will no longer need to self-isolate.Russia, Brazil and the USA are all on the "red list", meaning that non-essential travel is still banned from the UK.