Hopes are fading that the school holidays might provide a much-needed boost for tourism businesses in the UK
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Jules Cuthbert is getting used to cancelling holidays. The 41-year old mother of two from Bristol abandoned plans for an October half term trip to Merthyr Tydfil when the south Wales town went into lockdown on 22 September. It was the fifth UK holiday she has had to postpone since the start of the pandemic and it may not be the last. As coronavirus cases continue to rise, Cuthbert is unsure whether to go ahead with her half-term plan B – a few days in the South Downs. “I’m now rethinking whether we should travel at all because we live in a highly populous area with a large student population. I’m a hospital pharmacist so I am very mindful of the potential risks of moving from an area with a high number of cases to one with less.”
Cuthbert’s experience is far from unusual. While many British holidaymakers managed to escape to the countryside during July and August, recent measures to contain the spread of the virus have thrown autumn and winter holidays plans into disarray and dashed any hopes that the half term holiday might help tourism businesses recoup some of the losses suffered during the first lockdown.
