Crunch keeps Wharfers at home

South Quay Travel and Leisure of Colmans Wharf, which organises group trips across the globe, is one of the many travel agents in Docklands which has seen an increase in UK-based holidays.

General manager Ben Pinsent said: “There has been a definite upturn in UK domestic travel. I think one of the reasons for that is the disappointing exchange rate. But I believe another reason is people are finding it generally easier to organise trips in the UK than abroad.”

London-based Simon Worsfold, an independent travel consultant with Travel Counsellors, who covers the Canary Wharf area, believes the UK travel market is on the up and expects it to continue to grow.

He said: “Whereas we have spent so much time going abroad over the last few years, people are now wanting to return to their own culture. This makes particular sense with the credit crunch coming in.”

Mr Worsfold added another trend he has seen with the downturn in the economy is people taking less holidays, while if they do go abroad they will look for cheaper alternatives.

He said: “Rather than taking two or three holidays a year they are just doing one but making it interesting.
“Some people are taking the whole family away, including the grandparents and staying self catering in a villa, because this is a much cheaper way of travelling.”

Many other Wharfers who are desperate to travel abroad are avoiding Europe because of the exchange rate.

Lisa Warner, a spokeswoman for Trailfinders, which has a shop at The South Colonnade, said: “The Euro is just too expensive. We’re finding America is attractive because the dollar is good to the pound, while the

Middle East and Dubai are very strong for a similar reason.”

Unsurprisingly businesses have also cut back on trips abroad causing worries within the corporate travel industry.

This week, Portman Travel, which has a shop in Marsh Wall, said over 80 per cent of business people are having less face to face meetings, mainly due to the worsening economy causing them to use the telephone or video meetings instead of travelling.

Wharfers desire to stay in the UK may also increase over the next year following the news airline tickets are likely to soar due to the travel industry’s plans to cut seat numbers by 60 million.

High oil prices and the global economic problems will force about 411 flights to be scrapped in the coming months, according to a forecast from the Official Airline Guide.