Despite speculation that the government is due to scrap all remaining Covid travel restrictions, the latest gauge of holidaymaker sentiment from hotel booking platform, hoo, suggests it’s too little too late to spur a late flurry of Easter holiday travel bookings.

Just 3% of those surveyed by hoo stated they had plans to travel abroad for the Easter holidays and it’s clear that while we’re moving on from the pandemic domestically, Covid remains a worry when it comes to travelling abroad.

Half of those surveyed don’t think the government should remove the last remaining Covid travel restrictions and when asked if previous and existing restrictions should have been lifted sooner, just 16% stated they should have.

However, intent to travel is slowly building. hoo’s Intent to Travel Index found that at the start of the year, 68% of holidaymakers had no plans to take a foreign holiday within the next six to 12 months.

However, their latest temperature check of holidaymaker sentiment found that this has since reduced to just 62%, with 32% planning to head abroad at some point in the near future.

Of course, the current invasion of Ukraine by Russia is a worry and while 59% said it won’t deter them from travelling, 24% have been put off, while 14% stated they would avoid red zone countries including those bordering Ukraine and 4% will steer clear of Europe altogether.

hoo Co-founder, Adrian Murdock, commented:

“Despite the good intentions, the government’s Covid travel restrictions have deterred the majority from travelling which has come at a very high cost to the travel and tourism industry.

We’re all hoping to finally see the back of them this week and this should help rejuvenate the sector, but it certainly looks as though it will be too little too late for the Easter break and the usual spike in activity that comes at this time of year.

However, it appears our intent to travel abroad is slowly building and we should hopefully see a summer that resembles the closest thing to normal for quite some time.”