Package holiday sales to soar following Oxford vaccine boost

TravelSupermarket said many of those ready to book for the summer will "pivot" to package holidays rather than DIY trips owing to the added consumer protections offered by packages.

"This is a real opportunity now, and in the future, for the package holiday industry," said TravelSupermarket’s Emma Coulthurst.

"More people are aware of their rights, having lost money on flights which still ran and [weren’t] worth them paying to change."

Coulthurst said the vaccine approval would likely have a positive impact on package holiday price comparison searches, with the Pfizer/BioNTech approval in November pushing searches up 54% week-on-week.

"People are desperate to escape as soon as the virus and the world allows them to do so," said Coulthurst, who said interest would be highest for June and July 2021 owing to holidaymakers’ expectations for when a relative degree of normality will resume.

"The likes of Corfu, Crete, Turkey, Majorca and the Spanish costas continue to be some of the most popular searches for next summer, with people keen to return to their favourite spots," said Coulthurst.