A POPULAR independent travel agent reopened its offices early as holiday bookings surged now England’s quarantine restrictions are being lifted.

The government has announced more than 50 countries deemed low or very low risk will be exempt from England’s quarantine from Friday, July 10.

Included in the countries exempt are Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Turkey, Norway, Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Japan, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.

Holidaymakers choosing a getaway to those destinations will not have to spend 14 days in quarantine on their return to England.

Following news of this impending easing of travel restrictions Claire Milby and Lisa Barnes, who co-own Travel The Globe, have experienced a surge in holiday bookings.

And having worked from home throughout lockdown to help customers with all their travel queries, Claire and Lisa have now reopened their offices.

Claire said: “We have just had our busiest day of bookings for the last three months. People are really keen to have a break, and they want to get their holidays booked to ensure they get the best availability at the best prices.

“There are some amazing deals out there at the moment, and people want to ensure they secure the holiday they want, before prices start to rise.

“The surge in interest we have seen shows that the demand has always been there. People were just waiting for positive news about destinations welcoming British tourists and not having to quarantine when they return to this country.

“We were already taking a lot of bookings for 2021 and even 2022, but now the holiday season is back on for 2020 people have been rushing to make bookings.”

Lisa and Claire, who have 34 years and 27 years of travel agency experience respectively, pride themselves on offering a personal, trusted, bespoke service. They believe it’s an approach which has stood them in good stead throughout the pandemic.

Claire said: “It’s been tough at times, our dedicated staff have been working from home all hours, six days a week throughout the lockdown.

“We know there were customers with some other travel companies who struggled to get through to find out any information.

“It was important to us to offer an uninterrupted service to make sure we were available to help customers with their holiday queries, and make sure they had the best advice.

“It was about sticking by our community during the difficult times and making sure we were there to help them.It’s great to finally be coming out of the other side and to see customers, old and new, coming back to us and trusting us to help them with their holiday plans. We really appreciate the support they have shown us, and continue to show us.

“Without people sticking with us and booking their holidays with us, and continuing to support us, business would have been even more tough.”

Travel The Globe reopened its newly-revamped offices in King Street, Ulverston, last Monday.

And because of the surge in interest it reopened its Barrow office in Stollers Furniture World on Saturday. Because of demand it will also open its Barrow office every Sunday throughout July and August.

Normal operating hours, 9.30am-5pm Monday to Saturday at the Ulverston office, and 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday, and 11am-4pm on Sunday at the Barrow office are now in place.

Both offices have been fitted out with a range of safety measures including screens, sanitiser and social distancing signage.

Anyone wishing to contact Travel The Globe can phone 01229 839502/584472, visit the company’s Facebook page or e-mail holidays@traveltheglobe.co.uk