WHAT A STEAL
Your holiday booking could be stolen off you by rival Brits willing to pay more due to huge demand this summer
LUCKY Brits who have managed to nab a UK holiday this summer could lose their trip, as desperate families are offering to pay more to 'steal' it.
Rowena Owen, who runs a holiday letting firm in Kent, said she had been contacted by people offering to pay double to take the bookings from someone else.
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The Bloom Stays owner revealed the demands of holidayseekers on ITV's Tonight programme.
Also known as "gazumping" - which is common in the English property market - she said: "We’ve been approached by guests asking to pay double the value of the property to gazump the guests we’ve got - which I’ve never heard of in all my years in holiday letting."
She said she now has a waiting list of more than 200 people, and could rent her properties "three times over".
It follows Cornwall Tourism boss Malcom Bell who said earlier this year that many Cornwall properties are already putting families on waiting lists for this summer.
While Rowena said she declined the offers, families could see their trips taken if other holiday owners decide to accept the offers to make some extra cash.
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Last month, tour operators warned that 90 per cent of holidays in the UK are already sold out for the peak six-week summer holiday season.
UK campsites were already selling out of summer 2021 holidays last August, with many families who were forced to cancel last year's trip moving it to this year.
Staycations are seeing another bumper year due to uncertainty of travelling abroad.
Which trips in England were given the go ahead this week, with single households able to stay in self-catered properties since Monday, holidays abroad have not been given an official start date.
It is hoped they could resume from May 17 but this has not been confirmed.
The government has confirmed that a traffic light system will be implemented to allow holidays to low-risk countries, although which countries this could include is yet to be announced.
Vaccine passports are also being pushed by countries abroad while airlines are offering discounted Covid tests to encourage families to book a trip abroad.
Thankfully, there are still some UK deals to be found, and we've rounded up some of the best.
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