Customers flock to local travel agents as Covid restrictions eased

The UK’s traffic light system involving green, amber and red lists has been scrapped, with locations categorised as either on the red list or not.

Peter Bruno, travel manager for Your Co-op Travel Walsall and Bloxwich, said: "It is really exciting at the moment. We have been extremely busy over the weekend and today and it has been great to see old customers again.

"We have built relationships over years with these people and it is wonderful to be helping them travel again. It has been like a big reunion."

Mr Bruno has had calls from people wanting to travel this week as they were so desperate to get away after being restricted or priced out of travelling abroad.

He said: "The popular destinations for our customers in Bloxwich and Walsall are the usual, Spain, Greece and Portugal, Turkey has a loyal following too but their season is coming to an end.

"But we have also had bookings for Dubai, Mauritius and the Maldives."

Mr Bruno believes the Government's new simplified travel rules and scrapping of the in-resort testing has helped business bounce back.

He said: "The Government listened to the industry and customers, the removal of the amber category was greatly appreciated and ending in-resort testing has meant customers do not have to shell out another additional cost to travel."

However Ramesh Kataria, who has run Aerojets Travel in Wolverhampton for 30 years, has seen business turn into a trickle after India announced UK residents will have to be tested and quarantined on arrival.

He said: "My business is mainly for travellers to India and its Government announced last week UK travellers will have to be tested on arrival and the results can take hours, which has meant people have been missing connecting flights and getting stranded.

"We were just picking up more bookings after the easing of restrictions but this has stopped any business we have had. It is so frustrating seeing other destinations now being so easy to visit."