On Friday (7 January), pre-departure Covid tests for inbound travellers were axed, while the Day 2 testing standard has been lowered from PCR to lateral flow. Newmarket said these moves would help "release pent-up demand" accrued over the past two years.

Head of trade sales Richard Forde said the company was both "cautious and positive" about 2022. "Clearly, the Omicron variant impacted demand, but prior to that, we were seeing healthy bookings for 2022 and 2023, so we expect to recover to those levels and beyond pretty quickly and we are already seeing positive signs," he said.

"We are very hopeful that travel restrictions will remain much simpler for the long term, vaccinations programmes will be further advanced in many countries and customers will be moving forward with their travel plans after pausing them for two years."

In a bid to make the most of the predicted imminent boom in enquiries, Newmarket Holidays has launched a new content-led campaign entitled "Reconnect. Reimagine. Rediscover.". 

According to the operator, the initiative will "take customers through the full booking journey from inspiration, boosting confidence and incentivising bookings", rather than "just aiding the final conversation".

"Our new, content-led campaign is a move away from just incentivising bookings and is designed to support agents throughout their conversations with customers," Forde added.

A 10% booking incentive included in the campaign runs to 28 February and applies across the operator’s 2022 and 2023 escorted tours programme.