Reviving the domestic travel post-Lockdown 2.0

I don’t know about you but I’m a little grey regarding how the domestic travel market is going to look like post lockdown 2.0.

Anyone who knows me will understand that I’m a pretty optimistic guy, but this seems (at present) a bit like the unknown and that needs to change.

Prior to Lockdown 1.0, our domestic and corporate business was booming in Bristol. Our occupancy was 85-90% more or less all year round.

Like most hospitality businesses, in March, things got a little choppy. As mass leisure cancellations kicked in and a big chunk of the corporate business was forced to retract, we had to revive things. We spotted an obvious opportunity. This was to reach out to public sector businesses and the construction industry, which although not quite as profitable, brought some money in and helped us boost our occupancy up to around 70%.

As lockdown 1.0 began to loosen up, we were fortunate enough to have an influx of both our old corporate clients as well as a few domestic bookings on weekends. And as things relaxed further over the summer, it meant August & September remained strong before a slight (but not usual) decrease in October.

So why am I telling you this?

As we stride into Lockdown 2.0, all in all – we are in a far better position than we were back in March. But December, January, and February are tough months. The goal now is finding my domestic travel defibrillator and working out how we’re going to breathe some life back into the leisure market in 4 weeks’ time.

Appreciating that everyone is in the same boat, any ideas, feel free to ping them my way.

Stay safe!

Charlie