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Courtesy of the Times - time to grab a bargain.
Tour operator s are offering “unprecedented” discounts on Easter holidays amid a slump in bookings caused by fears of Brexit travel chaos. Concern at the prospect of Britain crashing out of the EU has helped to push down the price of trips to European destinations by a record 24 per cent. Analysis of more than 100,000 holidays during the school break from April 8 to April 22 found that week-long packages to destinations including Corfu, the Algarve, Mallorca and Ibiza are being cut to about £100 a person, including flights. Some operators are offering a seven-night trip with flights for as little as £108 a person, with some five-star deals as low as £124 per head. All-inclusive packages for seven nights including flights are also on offer for as little as £288 per person for a four-star trip to Greece.
“When you compare the forthcoming Easter school holiday period with last year, the price drops are unprecedented,” Emma Coulthurst, of TravelSupermarket, a price comparison site, said.
Travel industry chiefs called yesterday for ministers to reassure holidaymakers that it was safe to book flights for after this month. If the UK crashes out of the EU on March 29 only passports valid for a minimum of six months will be valid in Europe. Many travellers fear that a no-deal Brexit will lead to queues at ports and require extra documentation. The government and the European Commission have said that flights will continue. However, Noel Josephides, director of the Association of Independent Tour Operators, said: “Consumers are looking at the Brexit mess and thinking ‘no matter what they tell me, I just think I’ll wait’.” Senior members of the travel industry have held meetings with the government, including the Foreign Office, to secure assurances that holiday operations will continue as normal after Brexit.
One senior travel industry figure has accused the Department for Transport of being unhelpful after it began an advertising campaign last month urging Britons to renew their passports. “It is good the government are taking out adverts to warn people to check if their passport will be valid but they should also be taking adverts out telling people it is still safe to book holidays,” Mr Josephides said. “The government may tell us to prepare for a hard Brexit, but if they don’t tell you what the terms are, then none of us really know how to.