Center Parcs has revealed its 2021 opening dates on the back of the Prime Minister’s four stage plan to get the country open again.
The holiday park company said it was hoping to have paying guests back in its lodges within weeks, but warned there could be delays in some on-site activities reopening.
Meanwhile some of the country’s biggest airlines and travel companies said they experienced a surge in bookings after Boris Johnson set out his timetable for easing restrictions.
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The Prime Minister also said a Government taskforce will produce a report by April 12 recommending how international trips can resume.
If the vaccine and a cautious reopening schedule brings infections under control, foreign holidays could be permitted from May 17.
Center Parcs, which is headquartered near Newark, in north Notts, has five villages across England – Sherwood Forest, Elveden Forest, Longleat Forest, Whinfell Forest and Woburn Forest – plans to have all sites open on April 12 when the second phase of major lockdown relaxations kicks in.
On that date, self-catering accommodation, holiday parks and caravan parks, will be able to reopen to tourists. Hairdressers, salons, non-essential shops and pub beer gardens should also be able to reopen.
Final confirmation will be made by Downing Street a week earlier. The country’s hotels will not be able to open until May 17 at the earliest.
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Generally speaking the rule of six will remain in place to start with, and from June 21, there could be no restrictions on how many people can go on holiday.
Center Parcs said although it was looking forward to getting guests back through its gates, it did expect some restrictions to continue when it opens from April 12.
It said only traditional lodges would be opening from that date – not its hotels or apartments – and there would be a limit of one household per lodge.
On-site restaurants would only be open for delivery service and outdoor drinks to start off with.
Most outdoor activities would be available, it said, but it was unable to confirm whether its Subtropical Swimming Paradise pool complexes would be available.
When its parks were able to reopen last year, families were restricted to two hour sessions for the pools – limited to two per three or four day stay.
In normal times paying guests have unlimited access to the pools and water slides.
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A Center Parcs spokesman sad: “Following the Government announcement on their roadmap for re-opening society over the coming weeks and months, we are planning to reopen our 海角视频 villages and welcome our guests back from April 12.
“We are planning for this date and working through the detail to understand exactly what this means for breaks from April 12 onwards.
“Please note that any plans are subject to Government giving the go-ahead to move to this next step of their roadmap, which they intend to confirm by the April 5.
“For guests due to visit on breaks prior to April 12 we will make contact via email over the next few days with instructions on how to cancel activities and restaurants and how to reschedule or cancel.”
All guests affected by closure will have the option to change dates with a £100 discount or cancel and claim a full refund.
The spokesman said: “For guests due to visit on breaks April 12 to May 14, we will clarify details as soon as we can and contact you directly via email.
“From what we have seen so far the following restrictions may apply to Center Parcs breaks during these dates.
“We hope to welcome guests to our lodges but hotel rooms and apartments will be unavailable.
“Only one household will be permitted per lodge.
“Our restaurants will operate a delivery service and hopefully open for outdoor drinks subject to the rule of 6. Most outdoor activities will be available. We don’t yet know if the Subtropical Swimming Paradise will be open.
“For guests due to visit on May 17, and beyond, some restrictions may be eased further but we will wait to hear from the government before confirming more on this.”
Low cost flight operator easyJet said bookings for the summer season were more than four times higher following the PM’s Monday announcement, compared with the same period during the previous week.
The Luton-based firm’s holiday division saw an even larger rise, with demand up seven-fold.
The most popular destinations are beach resorts including Malaga, Alicante and Palma in Spain, Faro in Portugal and Crete, with August the busiest month, followed by July and September.
The airline’s chief executive Johan Lundgren said: “We have consistently seen that there is pent-up demand for travel and this surge in bookings shows that this signal from the Government that it plans to reopen travel has been what 海角视频 consumers have been waiting for.
“The Prime Minister’s address has provided a much-needed boost in confidence for so many of our customers in the 海角视频, with demand for flights up 337 per cent and holidays up 630 per cent already compared to last week and beach destinations proving most popular for this summer.
“While the summer may be a little while off, we will be working around the clock to ensure we will be ready to ramp up our flights to reconnect friends and family or take them on a long-awaited holiday to remember.”
Tui, the 海角视频’s biggest tour operator, recorded a six-fold increase in bookings, making Monday its busiest day in more than a month.
The hotspots of Greece, Spain and Turkey from July onwards are the most in-demand locations.
Managing director Andrew Flintham said there was “huge demand to travel” and “people can look forward to a well-deserved break away after what has been a very difficult year for many”.
Airline Jet2.com and its package holiday arm Jet2holidays said total bookings were seven times higher following the announcement, with strong demand for Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey.
Online travel firm Thomas Cook said traffic to its website was also up on Monday as people rushed to book holidays for this summer and 2022.
Chief executive Alan French said easing restrictions was “good news for those of us desperate to get away on holiday”.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “we can be much more relaxed about international travel” if vaccines work well against strains of the virus from South Africa and Brazil.
But he warned: “If the vaccine doesn’t work against them, then that will be much, much more difficult.”