TTG’s latest Travel Agent Tracker survey found 88% of agent respondents believe the latest changes will finally allow the industry to “start trading its way out of the Covid crisis in a meaningful way”.

Confidence has been boosted after agents and operators reported a “significant” increase in bookings since the government announcement on 17 September, including strong demand for autumn sun breaks and October half-term.

Figures from the Advantage Travel Partnership showed the consortium’s members enjoyed their best week since the start of the pandemic immediately after the latest rule changes, with 60% of bookings for 2021 departures.

Kelly Cookes, Advantage’s leisure director, said members were “almost trading at 2019 levels” with “demand growing” for November and December departures. “There’s much more positivity out there, and the late sales are driving much needed cash flow into businesses,” added Cookes.

Homeworking agency Not Just Travel enjoyed a record-breaking September for sales – up 20% on September 2019 – with more than 40% of this business being late bookings. “October is a busy month with lots of last-minute sun,” said co-founder Steve Witt. “We’ve seen a big surge for families to Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. That’s good for consumers and good for homeworkers, as they get paid – it puts money in the pocket of the industry.”

Polka Dot Travel director Mark Johnson said business was “significantly better” in the second half of September, but was still “not like it was” before Covid. “We’ve been doing a lot of last-minute stuff, with the Canaries doing well,” he added. “We’re getting to the point where we’re trading OK. It’s not brilliant, but it’s a big step forward in the right direction.”

The planned reopening of the US to UK holidaymakers from early November is also helping to boost enquiries, although most in the trade don’t expect US bookings to really take off until there is a firm date for reopening.

Stuart Lee, director of US specialist Mainstream Travel Group, said the US announcement had prompted a lot of enquiries, but not many clients were committing. “I think as soon as we get the date about the borders opening, we will be flying,” he said.

America As You Like It managing director Maggi Smit added: “We are definitely busier; instead of cancelling bookings, we’re doing quotes. The phones aren’t ringing off the hook – if we had a date, it would be a lot busier. The Americans are really keen for us to go back.”

Liz Wright, product manager at Tour America in Dublin, said the operator had been “inundated” since the US announcement, with both rebookings and new sales. “It’s been really, really busy,” she said. “There was no light at the end of the tunnel, now there is.”

Kate Holroyd, owner of Strawberry Holidays, which specialises in cruise and Disney, said: “It’s been pretty steady enquiries for six to eight weeks, it’s not changed on that front. A lot of my US stuff is for late 2022/23, so it [the changes to US restrictions] has not really impacted, but it has increased some Caribbean cruises over Christmas and New Year.”

The improvement comes just as the industry is having to cope with the end of the furlough scheme from 1 October, which has prompted fears of a new wave of redundancies. Holroyd added she had taken a temporary part-time job as a customer relationship manager to supplement her earnings from travel, and there are signs taking a second job may become a necessity for some agents post- furlough, with many travel companies only able to offer reduced hours to employees at the moment.

An Advantage survey found the majority of members (57%) had agreed with their employees to remain on current reduced hours “for the time being”, while 31% said they would be bringing all staff back full-time. However, only 12% said they would be forced to make redundancies.

The consortium has also set up an internal recruitment service to “match up” those who have been made redundant with vacancies at other agencies. “Keeping the skill within the industry is a key concern at the moment, although currently we have more vacancies than candidates,” said Cookes.

Abta is offering business resilience webinars as it warns some travel firms “face extreme difficulties” despite the relaxation of travel rules. It highlights, in particular, the “pain” for smaller independent companies without access to the same financial backing as larger competitors.

The association also points to destinations still on the red list, such as much of Africa and Latin America, which remain effectively closed to British holidaymakers, as it continues calling for tailored financial support for the sector.