An award-winning Cumbrian travel agent firm has re-opened its offices due to demand for foreign travel rising as the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions are peeled back.

Tricia Rickerby and Leanne Miller, co-owners of Cumbria Travel, which has outlets in Carlisle, Workington and Whitehaven, said staff are being based back at their retail units after working hard remotely throughout the lockdown to assist and support customers facing uncertainty and any travel queries they may have.

Since being established in early 2015, Cumbria Travel has grown year on year and say they are seeing a welcome return in regular custom following the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

When booking holidays, customers have been looking for more support from travel agencies due to the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic; and with an array of industry experience, Tricia, Leanne and their teams across the county are ready to help with new and existing customers.

Leanne, co-director of the travel firm, said: “We were delighted to be able to re-open all of the Cumbria Travel locations last week after having most of our team working at home since March 23, so it was lovely to see them returning to their stores.

“For us, it was so important to be able to offer our customers a continuous service throughout all of this, as we were aware there were customers out there booked with other travel companies who were struggling to speak to anyone.

“As local girls running a locally-owned company, we understand the importance of community and continued to provide our customers with the best possible service from day one of lockdown.

“We believe this is why we have seen a growth in sales for 2021 and 2022 throughout this period and with an update on Foreign Office advice due any time we expect to see the same surge of last-minute sales for 2020.

“We have lots of customers eager to book and take advantage of some of the best prices we have seen in years. People have got behind the #SupportLocal Campaign and keep their money in the local community which is such a positive and we honestly can’t thank our customers enough.”