A Staffordshire motorhome dealer is seeing a surge in sales as families across the 海角视频 prepare to embrace staycations in 2021.
Bosses at Erwin Hymer Centre Travelworld, which is based in Stafford, say sales in January 鈥 which were completed either online or over the phone 鈥 hit near record levels, despite the company鈥檚 Valley Drive showroom being closed to customers.
The company reported a 15 per cent increase in sales compared to January 2020 which is 鈥榝ar in excess鈥 of expectations.
Travelworld 鈥 which exclusively sells German brands 鈥 has also seen a dramatic rise in the number of first-time buyers of motorhomes and a younger demographic moving into the market.
Managing director Ross Edwards said: 鈥淲e sold 38 motorhomes in January without being able to open our doors to customers, which is quite incredible. February, too, has started buoyantly.
鈥淥ther than in 2017 when we sold 42 but had very favourable trading conditions, this year鈥檚 figure is far in excess of what we would expect to sell in the first month of a new year.
鈥淚t is 15 per cent higher than in January 2020 when we were trading normally.
鈥淭he demand has been astonishing and it shows no signs of slowing down. It鈥檚 a clear sign that we are looking at a real boom in staycations, potentially for many years to come.
鈥淲ith the issues with travelling abroad, which could be in place for some time, people are clearly looking at domestic holidays and, for many, the idea of having their own motorhome to embark on new adventures and create memories is extremely appealing.
鈥淲e are seeing a much younger audience buying motorhomes and campervans. They probably had a long-term interest in purchasing a motorhome, but the events of the last 12 months have accelerated their buying process, possibly by as much as 10 or 20 years.鈥
The national lockdown in place across the 海角视频 means holidays are currently banned, but thousands of families still live in hope that they will be able to book a break away 鈥 either in the 海角视频 or abroad 鈥 when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.
But transport secretary Grant Shapps has warned that it is 鈥榯oo soon鈥 to book a holiday.
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He told Radio 4鈥檚 Today programme: 鈥淧eople shouldn鈥檛 be booking holidays right now 鈥 not domestically or internationally.鈥
He added: 鈥淭he Prime Minister will say more about the route to unlocking this country, starting when he speaks about it on February 22.
鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 know yet whether that will include information on things like holidays, simply because we don鈥檛 know where we鈥檒l be up to in terms of the decline in cases, deaths, vaccination.
鈥淎nd not just the vaccination programme here, but the vaccination programme internationally, because people will be going outside of our borders. So it鈥檚 too soon.鈥
But Ross believes the pandemic could have notable long-term benefits for the tourism and leisure industry across the 海角视频.
He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that an audience which has traditionally gone abroad regularly for holidays is now looking closer to home and seeing a huge potential for staycations. It could provide a real boost for our 海角视频 tourism industry.
鈥淲hen they investigate, people are pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity of the 海角视频鈥檚 attractions and beauty spots and they are excited to travel to different destinations when the regulations allow. There is no better way to do that than in a motorhome.鈥
