On the Beach reveals 2021 bookings plunge
On the Beach has seen bookings during the first quarter of its financial year plunge 83%.
The Board says it expects booking volumes to remain weak into the second half of the financial year.
In a trading update for the four months to the end of January, it said this morning that its UK traffic for the quarter up to the end of January was down 73%.
The online travel agent has taken the decision to take holidays departing before 1 May off-sale due to the latest travel restrictions.
"We expect booking demand to remain weak until these restrictions are lifted and vaccine deployment is more widespread, both in the UK and our major travel destinations, which will impact H1 (first half) and fully year performance," it said.
The company revealed this it is burning through £2m a month during lockdown, but it still has cash reserves of £39 million and access to loans – including a Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan – of £75m.
Chief Executive Simon Cooper said: "Following the prudent activities undertaken in the last financial year, the Group remains in a strong and debt-free financial position.
"The Board is confident about the Group’s long term strategy and we will continue to evaluate the growing range of exciting opportunities to build our market share both in the UK and internationally."
On the Beach also revealed that it has refunded £3m to customers for cancelled flights before receiving refunds from the airlines ‘in order to protect the brand and generate customer goodwill’.
It left ABTA last year in a row over its refusal to refund passengers for flights they couldn’t take unless airlines agreed, but it later went on to win six gold British Travel Awards.
In its trading update released this morning, On the Beach said that it ‘continues to believe that the forthcoming period offers an unprecedented opportunity to drive market share gains and as a result has continued to invest in the areas that will drive the largest benefits in the medium term’.
These include continuing to pay hotels promptly, refunding customers whose holidays are cancelled in advance of receipt of airline refunds, offering low deposits, investing in talent and technology, and increasing its share of voice through online and offline marketing, including its Everything’s Better Campaign that launched on Christmas Day.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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