Businesses see increase in staycation bookings

Two Shropshire businesses have said they have seen an increase in staycation bookings for the half-term and summer months.

It comes as the war in Iran disrupts travel across the Middle East and pushes up prices for some flights and package deals to European hotspots.

"We're about eight to 10% up across the three departments that we deal with," said Finlay Bebb from Salop Leisure.

Booking.com and Airbnb both told the BBC they were already seeing an increase in demand for domestic bookings, with searches for May half-term UK holidays up 20% on Booking.com compared with last year, and searches for UK stays for the May bank holidays up 15% on Airbnb.

Salop Leisure is a local caravan, campervan and holiday home dealer based in Shrewsbury.

"We're finding that people want to take control of their holidays, everything that's going on with fuel, airports... foreign holidays are becoming so expensive, I think they're looking at our option and thinking 'I can go away every weekend'," said Bebb.

"Ever since 2021 with the cost of living crisis, people are trying to look after their pennies more, and I think what they want is reliability, if it's sat on the drive, they know it can go."

He told the BBC this year's uptick in sales was a continuation of what they saw after the Covid pandemic, when there was a rise in staycations.

"We've been pretty busy since the middle of March," Bebb said.

"It's good that people are coming and enjoying Shropshire… the local area is fantastic."

Mountain Edge offers lodges and glamping pods near Church Stretton.

Customer service manager Bryony Groom, said they had seen an increase in bookings compared to this time in 2025.

"We are seeing an increase in bookings, but we are seeing an increase in people leaving it until the last minute to book something," she told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"I think a lot of people are waiting to see whether they've got the disposable income to be able to do it.

"We're getting a lot more requests for a one-night stay."

She said she thought this was due to people being more conservative with their money.

"May half-term already is pretty much full for us," she added.

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