Research among 500 UK travel brands found 88% felt trust in the industry had either remained the same or grown.

Nearly 46% of respondents reported this a result of their corporate response to the challenges of the pandemic and 49% because of the professionalism of their service. In addition, 35% noted awareness of Atol or Abta protection had helped relationships with customers.

Barclays’ Restarting Travel report confirmed travel bosses were optimistic about growth, with 84% declaring confidence in recovery was high.

The report said: “This climate of optimism has led businesses to pass increased costs on to the consumer; nearly half (47%) have upped costs to maintain profit levels in the short-term.

Mike Saul, Barclays Corporate Banking head of hospitality and leisure, said: “Our findings suggest a bright future for the British travel sector. 

“Despite facing stiff competition for talent and growing inflationary pressures, the industry is confident that the pent-up demand created over the past two years will benefit the travel sector, certainly in the short-term, as the nation catches up on overdue vacations, re-energising its desire to get away for those much-needed holidays.”

Another change following the pandemic is that seven in 10 businesses now have a publicly-available ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) strategy and the same proportion have ESG-led performance targets.  

Operators are embedding policies around performance and standards, while giving customers transparency over the impact of their bookings via various methods, from carbon offsetting to committing a portion of charges towards conservation or charity. 

The report said these businesses were responding to the 62% of customers who have emerged from the pandemic more environmentally aware.