Cornwall holiday demand spreads to Christmas following summer boom causing family waitlists

CORNWALL holidays are already being booked up for Christmas after travel experts have warned to plan ahead following demand.

Families trying to book a trip to the seaside region this summer have already been placed on waitlists as many try to plan their staycations early.

Holiday booking website Independent Cottages has warned that 60 per cent of their holiday homes in Cornwall are already booked up for the peak season of summer.

They also have "unusually high demand" for the Christmas season already.

Steve Jarvis, co-founder of Independent Cottages, previously warned: "

Ever-popular family destinations such as Cornwall have very few prime weeks available, with around 60 per cent of properties already booked up for popular summer weeks."

He added that the surge is to be expected due to the latest travel restrictions putting holidays abroad at risk, with some MPs warning they may not go ahead for the summer season.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps warned last week that holidays may not be able to go ahead at all this year, or until everyone in the UK is vaccinated, explaining: "I’m afraid I can’t give you a definitive, will there or will there not be the opportunity to take holidays this next year either at home or abroad.";

However, Mr Hancock has previously spoken about how he has booked a family holiday in Cornwall for later this year and has touted a "Great British summer".

Last week, Visit Cornwall boss Malcom Bell even warned that some tourists were being asked to be on waiting lists for any available cottages in Cornwall due to the high demand.

He told Sun Online Travel: "The demand is there - there are lots of people asking to be put on waiting lists for self-catered places.

"People are phoning up, saying 'I know you are fully booked but will you take my phone number in case something comes up in July?'"

"I am predicting we will be full up."

Brits are being warned to book now as holidays are unlikely to get any cheaper, with depserate tour operators unable to offer deals and discounts this year.

Mr Bell added: "There won't be discounts everywhere this year.

"Normally there is discounting with 75 per cent of people paying the full whack for holidays and and 25 per cent getting a deal. I think there will be just 5 per cent of deals, if that."

Pitchup.com's Dan Yates has also warned that as the vaccine rollout progresses, so does demand, so booking after the lockdown end date is announced will be too late.

He explained: "In June last year, campsites opened - as soon as that speech happened, 10 days before the opening date, our bookings quadrupled.

"We had one booking every three seconds. People will want to secure their best spot, so we expect the same when lockdown ends this time around.

 "With the vaccination rates going up rapidly, you can correlate that to our performance.

"You can track the vaccinations on a daily basis, to our bookings."

Hope for self-catered holidays to resume by April if the R rate continues to fall.

Face masks and social distancing rules are likely to remain in place for a long time - here is the predicted road map out of lockdown.

The Spanish government has said, however, that Brits could return to Spain through vaccine passports this summer, with those vaccinated facing fewer travel restrictions.