\n<\/p>\n
“New customers is what we’ve worked on for a long time, although we would not have chosen a global pandemic [to achieve it].”<\/p>\n
Yet with the numerous lockdowns putting temporary stops to any domestic holidays, Mr Onens says it has not all been plain sailing. “The booking office has often been dealing four to five times with same bookings, as a result of changes in the rules.<\/p>\n
“It’s been interesting. We have refunded about \u00a31.6m in total – it was the fairest thing for our customers. But as it happened we’ve resold holidays as fast as we’ve refunded them.”<\/p>\n
Cheryl Howes, owner of Warwick-based narrow boat hire company Kate Boats, which operates 28 boats, says the 21-year-old business hasn’t “seen bookings like this for 10 years”.<\/p>\n
“Although we have bits and pieces available, we’re full for this summer,” she says. “Some people want to travel abroad but don’t want to risk it, and others are looking for something different and unusual.<\/p>\n
“You’ve got everything you need. The boat is your holiday. You don’t have to think, don’t have to make decisions, you just enjoy it. People think kids will get bored, but they enjoy having you to themselves.”<\/p>\n
Mr Onens, who says many people discovered canal holidays after walking the towpaths during the pandemic, describes boating trips as the “perfectly socially distanced break”. <\/p>\n
“You’re in a bubble, not like a holiday park with a lot of people. It’s an experience holiday with miles of canal to explore. It’s something unique and different.”<\/p>\n
Eulanda Shead Osagiede, 42, from Snodland in Kent, took her first boating holiday in June – going on a four-day cruise with workmates along the Thames, from Chertsey in Surrey to Benson in Oxfordshire.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n