A Co Tyrone travel agent has said there has been a significant increase in the number of enquiries from people asking where they can go on holiday if they are unvaccinated.
Covid-19 travel restrictions to foreign holiday destinations have loosened in many countries in recent months, but many still require proof of vaccination for entry.
William Elliott, of Elite Travel NI in Cookstown , says those who have yet to take up a Covid-19 vaccine are starting to come forward to see where they can travel legally, and Turkey and Portugal are the most popular destinations that don’t require tourists to be jabbed.
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“The minefield is with the vaccines at the moment, we’re getting a lot of people asking where can you go without your vaccine,” William told MyTyrone.
“Generally more and more now people are asking that question, they are coming out of the woodwork now to ask where they can go.
“It’s one of the daily questions I get asked.
“You can do both Turkey and Portugal, as long as your PCR comes back negative, and Dubai as well.”
In terms of local people’s rising confidence of returning to popular holiday destinations, William said families are still unsure but that his business is ‘extremely busy’.
“It’s still a bit slow in the uptake of families booking, I think it’s a whole thing with kids at school catching Covid," he said.
“There are families booking but the volume compared to pre-pandemic levels just wouldn’t be there.
“Things are extremely busy, busier than we had actually anticipated but we are not going to complain about that.
“Greece has been very popular recently, it has always been but recently we’ve had a lot of enquiries in about there.
“Since flights to Australia opened back up again, we’re booking flights for families going across to see loved ones again.
“Last week alone we did 18 bookings on flights to Australia alone so it’s always a good money spinner for us.”
The Co Tyrone travel agent added that the difference compared to this time last year has been stark, and people are now happy to spend more money on holidays having missed out since the beginning of the pandemic.
“There’s a huge difference compared to this time last year, people are a lot more confident," he said.
“Last year we were constantly refunding, this year we are constantly booking so the tables have massively turned.
“With couples going away they are happy to spend more money now because they haven’t been away for the last two years.
“People have saved up a bit more money, they are willing to spend that wee bit more for a five star hotel or going all inclusive.”
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