Can you expect a warm welcome?

If you fly overseas this summer you can expect a warmer welcome than usual - but like the weather, some places are warmer than others!

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With summer in full swing you might be wondering what sort of welcome you'll get if you fly away for an overseas break this year. Are top holiday destinations for Brits, like Greece or Spain, welcoming tourists with money to spend or shying away from visitors in fear of another lockdown?

The good news for anyone planning a holiday is that 50% of people who got back in the last month said they were greeted more warmly than usual, and more than 75% agreed they were greeted either more warmly or as warmly as ever. Only 7% of British holidaymakers felt they were received more coldly travelling after the Covid lockdown.

Holiday Extras, the UK market leader in holiday extras such as airport parking, airport hotels and lounges, surveyed holidaymakers who recently got back from a trip and asking how they were received by the locals. Between 12th July and 12th August they asked 500 holidaymakers back less than a month from their trip - so having travelled since well after March and April's global travel shutdown came to an end - what sort of welcome they got on holiday.

Returning British holidaymakers were also asked where they'd been. Portugal, Greece and Turkey came out top for offering a warmer welcome in July and August, with France at the bottom of the table.

Destination	% "more warmly" or "as warmly"
Portugal	90.9%
Greece	87.5%
Turkey	82.8%
USA	82.7%
Average	76.5%
Spain	74%
Italy	73.2%
France	71.2%
Other	62.4%

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Seamus McCauley, Editor at Holiday Extras, commented:

"We carried out this research to get an authentic view from British holidaymakers who had been away since the Covid travel lockdown what it's like now to visit different countries. Our customers need to know, we need to know and we expect anyone who is debating whether it's worth getting on a plane this summer will need to know too."

"Happily our research shows that the warmest welcome is in places that Brits can travel to right now. In Portugal the Azores and Madeira are on the FCO's quarantine-exemption list and we can enter with a negative Covid test. Greece and Turkey, in the number two and three slots, are both open, and with Spain closed we're seeing most of our bookings head to those two hotspots this summer. In short, if you're worried what sort of welcome you'll get if you hop on a plane right now - don't be. 500 people who got back in the last month tell us that, everywhere tourists go, the welcome is warmer than ever."

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It pays to book your airport parking, airport hotel or your lounge as soon as you book your flights. Prices usually go up nearer the date you fly, and last year Holiday Extras saved our airport parking customers £100 each on average when they pre-booked their airport parking instead of paying on the day.

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