Holidays

[Andrewcook]

It has been announced today that No One to Book Holidays for some time to come that's brilliant . So that's not very good news to the tourist industry and Pubs and  restaurants. 

[ranworthbreeze]

16 minutes ago, Andrewcook said:

It has been announced today that No One to Book Holidays for some time to come that's brilliant . So that's not very good news to the tourist industry and Pubs and  restaurants. 

Understandable the way things are at the moment, maybe the situation will be different in April or May.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NorfolkNog]

I think the main emphasis is foreign travel but it would be advisable to hold off booking anything at the moment I guess. I have a long standing booking with Bridgecraft for May. While I remain hopeful I'm quite prepared to transfer it if needed. 

I'm going for a month in December!! (fingers crossed) 

[CambridgeCabby]

Not quite as reported .

Transport minister Grant Schapps has announced that there is no guarantee that foreign holidays will be possible this year and possibly U.K. breaks as well .

I’m more a glass half full type and no guarantee could just as easily be interpreted as a possibility still exists, I’d rather wait for official notification and clarity before I wrote this year off .

[JennyMorgan]

Whilst I understand the reasoning behind the No Holidays yet advice, indeed I support it, I do wonder at the potential of an absolute deluge/saturation of visitors when restrictions are relaxed, as they eventually will be. My gut feeling is that July, August and September will be hell on wheels as the usual six month holiday season is squeezed into three, on top of that there will be the extra demand from those who would have normally gone abroad and those who had no holiday last summer. The Coast buckled last summer, I can see demand being greater this year.

[Chelsea14Ian]

Much of this down to the vaccine .its hoped all those  50 and over will be vaccinated by end of May and all those 20 and over by Autumn.Which in fairness is amazing.However much of Europe is way behind the UK,in vaccinating there population. In my opinion I dont think much will open up until  at least May but its anyone guess what and how much will open up.

 

[Oddfellow]

That is not 

1 hour ago, Andrewcook said:

It has been announced today that No One to Book Holidays for some time to come that's brilliant . So that's not very good news to the tourist industry and Pubs and  restaurants. 

Well, I also recall one of the ministers last year saying that he wouldn't be booking any holidays not very long before the 4th July free-for-all came into force. 

Basically, if you believe anything these "truth twisters" tell you (the words of a Home Office on the official twitter account last year, you may recall), you need your head examining. 

However, I think I would echo the sentiment behind what Shapps is saying. Holidays in 2021 are by no means a given and the travel industry is in for a bumpy and uncertain ride. But it's not just travel, its everyone. Tourism is a major business and consumer spending will be massively hit again tis year. I expect that, as in 2020, we'll be given a reprieve in the summer, told to buckle up for Autumn, hold our breaths for Christmas, let loose again and spend January 2022 counting the cost again unless the vaccines roll out worldwide and are highly effective. 

It's also worth pointing out that vaccines don't prevent infection and to highlight this.  I have learned today of a health worker, vaccinated with the first dose some weeks ago, has today tested positive in their regular tests.

At no point should anybody be letting their guard down. Nor should we be banking on a Spring holiday. 

[Hylander]

Oh well ground hog day again.   Cancelling holidays once more booked from the year before till?   (Anyone got a crystal ball, where on earth is Mystic Meg when you need her).      I know one thing ,  even if it is in the middle of winter and it is possible we will go just to get out of the house.     Allowing visiting over Christmas did nothing to help the situation.    Mind you I am surprised at the change of attituded.  My son when this first started was adamant that I was wrong being so cautious - you should get on with your life Mum,   silly putting everything on hold etc etc.   Now gone full circle and is telling me to not go near anyone.   No chance of that happening.    The only person I see at a distance on a Wednesday is the Sainsburys man or lady.   I was even more pleased to see the delivery van this morning as it is pretty dreadful up here with the snow.   By the way has anyone see the bin men?   Have not turned up , should have been here Monday.   No explanation whatsoever.  Everyone else is out delivering etc.    

Not everyone is on Facebook or Twitter.    So may an email or announcement on the local news would not have gone amiss.   Lets face it,  you get fined if you leave your bin out ,   ours has been out since Monday.

 

[Chelsea14Ian]

Have you tried phoning your council?They will be able to tell you.

[NorfolkNog]

1 hour ago, JennyMorgan said:

My gut feeling is that July, August and September will be hell on wheels

Good point JM. To some extent that happened last year. Personally I'd rather wait until December - it should be a bit more peaceful then.....hopefully! 

[Oddfellow]

Just now, NorfolkNog said:

Good point JM. To some extent that happened last year. Personally I'd rather wait until December - it should be a bit more peaceful then.....hopefully! 

Not to some extent on the Broads. The place was packed right the way though to October. Boatyards run off their feet and much of it dealing with people who are used to shouting "TWO BEERS" at a bartender for whom English isn't even a second language. 

[chrisdobson45]

Holiday has been booked for the end of July (with Barnes Brinkcraft) for a couple of months so I live in hope. However, if it doesn't happen for whatever reason, I'll just need to suck it up, this pandemic is bigger than having to re-arrange my holiday plans. 

What the holiday booking has done is give us focus, something to look forward to once life is better and there's a new norm. Can't think of anything better than a week boating (OK, two weeks boating is better...)

[JennyMorgan]

What also happened last summer was that some folk took holidays that they would not normally take, seemingly any holiday was better than no holiday. That might be good in the short term but I can also see subsequently disgruntled customers saying 'no, never again'.  Whatever happens this year it will not be back to normal, indeed normality might be a year or two away. Plans, what plans? 

[webntweb]

A lot of people seem to be taking a chance on there being no lockdown this summer.

If the Devon and Cornwall holiday parks are anything to go by caravans are booking up quickly for the school summer holidays.

One of the largest groups has very few of its Deluxe, Prestige and Platinum ranges left and they are asking up to £2,000 a week for a 10ft wide, 3 bedroom, standard caravan like the example attached. I'd rather stay at home than pay that sort of weekly price for something that they wouldn't have paid more than £20,000 for and, according to the brochure, could be up to two years old so has possibly paid for itself already.

12ft wide static caravans are considered the norm and these days more parks are going for 13 and even 14ft wide - probably aiming at people who would normally go abroad.  

 

[JennyMorgan]

46 minutes ago, Hylander said:

Not everyone is on Facebook or Twitter.    So may an email or announcement on the local news would not have gone amiss.   Lets face it,  you get fined if you leave your bin out ,   ours has been out since Monday.

Local, on line news has been full of it, collections have been cancelled and no definite pick-ups announced. It's been blamed on the ice on side roads as only primary routes are being salted and cleared. 

https://www.becclesandbungayjournal.co.uk/news/local-council/some-norfolk-bin-collections-still-suspended-7317224

[Wonderwall]

Booking a holiday, not getting it , but not being out of pocket is one thing. Losing your holiday, and your cash is a double whammy.

Would credit cards cover you in these uncertain times, in the light of your chosen yard going into admin ( please no) when you have already been advised not to book?  Is a pandemic covered in their " not covered by an act of god" or however else they word it?

It's poor advice in the way the boatyards and other holiday industries must be crying out for cash flow. 

I do think the advice is aimed at foreign holidaybobs.

[Meantime]

Looking at the way the R number is now lower in Kent and Essex than it is in Norfolk it makes you wonder who would want to chance a holiday in Norfolk when they run the risk of taking the virus back home with them? 

[grendel]

1 hour ago, Hylander said:

By the way has anyone see the bin men?   Have not turned up , should have been here Monday.   No explanation whatsoever.  Everyone else is out delivering etc.    

ours were a day late last week - and that was before it snowed

[grendel]

59 minutes ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

Have you tried phoning your council?They will be able to tell you.

ours has a page on the website where you can report a missed bin, or a whole street full of missed bins.

[grendel]

i have not booked any holiday yet, but work expect me to take a weeks holiday before april that was carried forward from last year. so looks like a week as normal at home then, doing nothing rather than filling my time usefully working.

[Turnoar]

10 minutes ago, Wonderwall said:

Would credit cards cover you in these uncertain times, in the light of your chosen yard going into admin ( please no) when you have already been advised not to book?  Is a pandemic covered in their " not covered by an act of god" or however else they word it?

Force Majeure clauses in commercial contracts have been the source of a lot of excitement in the past year, if pandemic is defined as an FM event in the contract then it makes things clearer, if not it may end up for the courts to decide but as a matter of contract, not a point of law. Like lockdowns, tier restrictions etc. there’s an element of being able to foresee what could happen now but with furlough, business grants etc and most important loyal fan base hopefully all boatyards will be able to sustain. Worst case which I hope never happens is closing down and refunding from sale of assets, although if on borrowed money the bank usually gets first dibs of course.

[Chelsea14Ian]

7 minutes ago, grendel said:

ours has a page on the website where you can report a missed bin, or a whole street full of missed bins.

Us too.

[floydraser]

2 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

What also happened last summer was that some folk took holidays that they would not normally take, seemingly any holiday was better than no holiday. That might be good in the short term but I can also see subsequently disgruntled customers saying 'no, never again'.  Whatever happens this year it will not be back to normal, indeed normality might be a year or two away. Plans, what plans? 

Having never been abroad, am I right in thinking that the majority of foreign holidays are NOT self-catering?

We had a group on a campsite last year who were clearly not enjoying themselves and nobody around them either. It was probably their only choice to be fair.

[ExSurveyor]

Good luck trying to book much in the way of staycation. My daughter in law struggled last week to book something in the New Forest for August this year.

I have a booking for F1 in Hungary end of July, I am not confident about getting away.

Having paid for my boat the past year, with limited use, I suspect it may be used a lot this year.

 

 

[floydraser]

1 hour ago, psychicsurveyor said:

Good luck trying to book much in the way of staycation. My daughter in law struggled last week to book something in the New Forest for August this year.

I have a booking for F1 in Hungary end of July, I am not confident about getting away.

Having paid for my boat the past year, with limited use, I suspect it may be used a lot this year.

 

 

From what I've heard I think there may have been a large degree of panic booking towards the end of last year. We usually do our main booking just after Christmas and this year is the first we have been unable to get our chosen week. The booking clerk did however say that although fully booked, there are a lot of cancellations and advised if we wanted to get a different week it may be worth asking again.