Holiday accommodation gets the green light
As lockdown restrictions were eased on the 4th July for those offering holiday accommodation in England, many operators are reporting significant demand for bookings from people looking to make the most of the remaining summer season.
Cottages.com, which claim to be the UK’s biggest operator of ‘managed’ cottages, and sister company Hoseasons, best known for offering boating holidays and lodges on the Norfolk broads, both reported record sales in the wake of the reopening announcement from the Government on 24th June, with bookings coming through at one every 11 seconds.
Hoseasons year-on-year sales were up 270% by the end of the day, with cottages.com reporting a 455% increase as both brands smashed their previous record sales days. Coolcamping.com, which has 420 sites in England, saw an instant fourfold increase in bookings compared with before the announcement and reported bookings were up 750% on the same time last year.
Martin Freeman, Partner at Fenn Wright commented “Self-catering accommodation naturally allows holidaymakers to maintain social distancing as staying in self-contained units negates the need for shared facilities. As a result of Covid-19, we have seen a significant increase in the number of lifestyle buyers looking to purchase holiday accommodation and leisure businesses with water.
Traffic to Fenn Wright’s Water & Leisure website, fisheries4sale.com, increased by 60% between reopening on May 13th and July 30th, compared to the same period in 2019. The year-on-year stats show the number of new users rose by over 70%, page views were up over 30% and applicant registrations were up by 53% between mid-May and July.
This is a continuation, or perhaps an acceleration, of a trend we have experienced over the last two to three years, with increased focus on UK holidays or ‘staycations’ being mirrored by buyers actively looking to purchase leisure properties. As a direct result of this increased demand, our Water & Leisure team have either sold or agreed a sale on 70% of properties which were on the market during lockdown”.