The long-haul tour operator also reported its best trading day on 31 January since before the pandemic and received the highest volume of bookings in a month since January 2020.

Bookings between 16 and 31 January also delivered the highest second-half of January figures the company has seen in its almost 20-year history. 
 
As part of its growth plans, and fuelled by the January boom, the Stoke-on-Trent-based firm is recruiting for 10 positions, including personal travel advisors, a product executive and a product assistant, a promotions assistant, and a customer relations advisor. 
 
Alistair Rowland, chief executive of Blue Bay Travel, said the UK government’s overhaul of Covid-19 testing and quarantine rules in early January was a "real game changer" and the firm "enjoyed a bumper month" as a result. 
 
"January was a record-breaking month in terms of website traffic, and we also received the highest volume of online bookings in a month that we’ve ever had," he added.

He said the company’s most popular destination for bookings is currently the Maldives, as customers seek to "treat themselves to barefoot luxury and total escapism", after two years of lockdowns and restrictions.

Mexico, Dubai and the Dominican Republic have also proved popular, on account of their relaxed entry requirements.
 
"As a business, we’re proud to have been able to retain all our colleagues during the pandemic period and now we need to hire more," Rowland continued.

"The January boom has accelerated our growth plans and we’re actively looking to recruit for a range of positions, some based in our Stoke-on-Trent offices and some remotely."