Searches on the comparison website on Saturday were up 57% week-on-week for Spain, the most popular destination. Turkey leapt to second place with a 1,061% increase following its removal from the red list, while searches for third-place Greece doubled.

Other big winners were the Maldives, up 219%, making it TravelSupermarket’s fifth most popular search, and Egypt, up 579%, moving it from 24th to eighth in the comparison site’s search list.

TravelSupermarket also highlighted low package prices for departures before the lifting of travel restrictions on 4 October. They include a week on the Costa Brava leaving Manchester or Liverpool on 28 September for £144pp full board and a week in Zante from £200 half board leaving 27 September from Stansted.

TravelSupermarket spokesperson Emma Coulthurst said some of the bargain departures straddled the date when restrictions would change and it was unclear how travellers would be treated with regard to testing.

She said rates for departures after the lifting of testing restrictions were also low: “Prices in mid-October are just as cheap,” she said, but added: “Clearly half-term will be a little more expensive, but I am still seeing some good prices.”

She added: “There are many holidays to sell and there are still only a certain amount of people who are considering going abroad. As we know, only about a third of the traffic has gone through UK airports compared with a pre-pandemic summer. You can get a lot of stars and value for your money. It really is a great time to go away.”