Speaking after the group on Thursday (9 December) revealed it had cut its annual loss from £46.3 million to £36.7million, Cooper said he didn’t anticipate any additional support for travel from Westminster

"Government has spent billions propping up the economy and wider business, I just can’t see appetite for sector-specific support," he said.

"Sometimes, travel makes points to government that are going to have zero impact on decision-making. I do understand why travel does it, don’t get me wrong – it’s been a very difficult time for everyone. I’m just not sure we’ve seen any willingness towards that [sector-specific support]."

Cooper said On the Beach had received "pretty modest" support from government during the pandemic, running to the "low tens of thousands of pounds" in furlough cash.

"We are in the fortunate position of not running a business like many others in travel," Cooper continued. "We don’t have those high fixed costs or commitments, most of our cost base is flexible because it is variable. We were able to refund customers throughout the pandemic because we hadn’t spent their money.

"We’ve worked hard to manage liquidity. We never released any refund credit notes, we don’t owe suppliers any money, and we’ve got the flexibility of cost base that an OTA would have."

Earlier this week, health secretary Sajid Javid suggested that if the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 on travel was prolonged, the government may look again at sector-specific support.

However, in a Commons address following the announcement of the government’s Covid Plan B measures on Wednesday (8 December), Javid changed tack, stating the best way to support the UK’s travel and aviation sectors would be to ensure any restrictions were lifted as quickly as possible.

"The best support we could provide for the transport sector right now is to remove these recent restrictions," said Javid. "I am confident that, as we learn more about this variant and if, as is expected, over time it becomes the dominant variant, we can start removing those restrictions very quickly."

‘Let’s not predict’

Cooper said the group had grown headcount by around 100 during the pandemic, mostly in tech and service roles, and that the business would continue to invest in the medium-term in its platforms, brand and reputation.

"We’ve worked hard to rebuild our reputation which, like many in travel, damaged during that initial period of pandemic," admitted Coper. "All the things we have been doing throughout, they still hold true and we believe they will add value when the market recovers.

"But let’s not sit here and predict that market recovery will come in January or March or June. Right now, no one knows what 2022 is going to look like. There was probably greater certainty as to what it might look like pre-Omicron, but it could go one of two quite extreme ways.

"We are in a hugely fortunate position that we can plan for any scenario and be ready for whenever we see that demand return."

He added the group had been able to hedge its bets by continuing to invest in its B2B operation, Classic Collection Holidays and Classic Package Holidays, which he said had capitalised on the need for greater trade support during the pandemic.