Vaccine 'better for confidence than shorter quarantine'

Skyscanner’s data showed that while more than a third of British consumers want to travel overseas in the next six months, only a third of these people said they would be swayed by the prospect of a shorter period of self-isolation upon return – such as that offered by the government’s new test to release scheme, which came into effect on Tuesday (15 December).

However, more than 40% of the 2,152 respondents to the poll, conducted by AudienceNet in late November, said the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had made them feel more confident about travelling abroad by the summer.

Skyscanner search data, meanwhile, shows a 62% spike in searches for travel between December and February, and 70% for Spain, since the test to release announcement on 24 November.

The firm said this suggested that while both shorter quarantines and the prospect of a vaccine were a step in the right direction, more would need to be done to "re-energise" travel and tourism.