Coach firms lose out as Royal Wedding hits trade

Coach companies in the West Midlands today revealed they would lose thousands of pounds in lost bookings because of people cancelling trips on the day of the Royal Wedding.

Travel bosses said they were preparing to be hit in the pocket after the day was declared an official Bank Holiday.

They today claimed that they would lose thousands of pounds from contracts with schools being cancelled on the day.

Roslynd Hadley, director of Stourbridge-based Prospect Coaches, said: "We've estimated that we will lose about £13,500 in lost bookings.

"Because the wedding is on a working day that is now a national holiday, we have had a number of cancelled bookings from schools, which make-up the majority of our business.

"I'm all for the Royal Family but would have preferred for the wedding to have taken place on a weekend, then we wouldn't have lost money. We're fortunate in that we haven't been hit directly by the recession but in these economic times, it is a lot of money to lose."

Neil Wright, operations manager at Wolverhampton-based Coach Choice, said firms across the country would be hit in the pocket.

"We will obvisously lose revenue because of it being declared a national holiday. A lot of it is to do with schools, with contracts taking children to and from school and day trips.

"Everybody will be losing revenue. We don't need another Bank Holiday.

"We can't predict what's going to come in but we will definitely be hit with the school contracts."

Meanwhile other travel companies are trying to cash in on the occasion, including giving people in the Black Country the chance to join up to 5,000 campers for a three-day celebration.

The extended party will be held on Clapham Common and camping space is being offered as part of a National Express package deal for the couple's big day.

It is hoped thousands of people will take up the offer, which has been introduced by events firm Camp Royale and includes return travel from cities from and to cities throughout the country.

The camping deal is part of a number of travel discounts being offered on services across the country for the weekend of celebrations in the capital.

The camp site will run from Thursday April 28 — the day before the wedding — to Sunday May 1, at a cost of £109.95, which includes return travel from across the West Midlands.