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The Canary Islands will be the only destination in the internet directories of the three largest charter companies in the coming months.
Charterbolaget Although TUI organizes travel for airlines traveling to other destinations, like its competitors Ving and Apollo, it has chosen to concentrate its own offerings in the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa.
– The Ministry of Foreign Affairs still advises against travel outside Europe. There aren’t many more places in Europe than the Canary Islands where it’s hot right now, says Adam Györki, TUI’s communications manager.
Charter companies have adapted trips to make them safer from an infection control point of view, including by reducing congestion on transfer buses and eliminating the possibility of self-service at buffets.
Reserve statistics Still, it’s grim reading for finance departments: The figures say that many Swedes are reluctant to travel abroad during the pandemic.
– Reservations are about a quarter compared to a normal winter. It is difficult for us to know what it will be like in the future, it completely depends on what happens in the development of the pandemic, Györki says.
Representatives for Ving and Apollo give a similar picture of the winter reserve situation. Fredrik Henriksson, Ving’s communications manager, says many of the reservations are made after the New Year.
– During the autumn holidays we had full flights, some weeks are more requested than others. Now we see that people are starting to book, but above all, many are booking for next year. This is where we see the most pressure right now, both in terms of new bookings and customers that have pushed bookings forward, says Henriksson.
Apollos Sverigechef Erika Butterworth says that bookings through New Years are about 30 percent of normal, but for the months of January through March the figure is 40 percent. Apollo, like competitors, has lowered prices and upgraded with generous cancellation protection to sell more trips.
– We speak with many who want to travel but feel unsure of what is going to happen, and there are those who think about what their neighbors will say if they travel. At the same time, we have a larger group of people saying that they have had COVID-19, that they have antibodies, and that they are taking the opportunity to travel now, Butterworth says.
