In the week since the Global Travel Taskforce published its findings on the potential resumption of travel under a traffic light system from May 17th, Saga Holidays has seen an increase of 127 per cent in booking enquiries to its contact centres versus the same period two weeks before.

Enquiries for 2021 have focused on UK and European stays, while short-haul destinations such as Egypt and Madeira are proving popular for travel in 2022, as are European river cruises.

The USA and Canada top the list for most searches for long-haul holidays next year.

And cruise searches have focused on the launch of the tour operator’s modern, boutique ships ‘Spirit of Discovery’ and the brand new ‘Spirit of Adventure’ this summer, of which all but one is now sold out.

Nick Stace, chief executive of Saga Travel, said: “We’d already received a surge in enquiries when the vaccine roll-out started and in the week since the government’s announcement around international travel, we’ve seen another spike from travellers keen to secure holidays.

“The UK and Europe are top destinations for later this year while searches for year-round warmth mean Egypt and Madeira are proving popular for next year.

“Our customers have told us they intend to stay for longer to make up for their year at home so we’re offering many winter sun holidays with four weeks for the price of three.

“Our European river cruises are also experiencing high levels of demand and we’re looking forward to launching our latest ship, ‘Spirit of the Rhine’ later this year.

“Further afield, the USA and Canada are proving popular for next year, but we’ve also just launched tours to exciting destinations such as Guyana and Ecuador and we’re expecting them to do very well as people come out of lockdown determined to make the most of opportunities to travel.”