Roy Barker, founder of Spike Insight, told delegates at the conference on Friday (4 February) that travellers aged 60 to 75 represented the biggest opportunity over the next few years.

“They are slightly older, affluent, and free to travel whenever they want to travel, and from what we see, demand is unharmed,” he explained. “If you focus on this demographic, you are in a very good place; it could very quickly move from being a buyer’s market to being a seller’s market.”

Spike’s research also showed 60% of travellers are now more likely to book travel with a travel company instead of doing it themselves, and that 60% of travellers intend to “catch up” on the travel they’ve missed out on, by spending more.

However, some delegates sounded a note of caution about the impending operational challenges as the sector gears back up to operate tours.

Fiona Marshall, product team lead at walking and cycling specialist Macs Adventure, reported supply chain challenges in some destinations, such as guesthouse closures. “Some tours we have not operated for two years; there’s going to be a bit of creaking around the edges,” she suggested.

MORE: Sustainability measures must not ’reduce the fun’ of holidays

But operators agreed customers do not want Covid adaptations to significantly impact their travel experience.

“They want reassurance that they will be safe but they want to have the experience they would have had before,” said Tony Thorne, owner of Guyana specialist Wilderness Explorers.

Thorne reported that customers on a recent trip had been very understanding when the itinerary changed at the last minute because of a Covid case at a lodge. “The feedback from the trip was very positive overall,” he said. “They were just pleased we could make their trip happen.”