Upper Crust owner sees travellers return but sales still down on pre-Covid times
The travel sector operator SSP said sales in the past three weeks have improved but remain at just 47% of pre-pandemic levels.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Upper Crust owner SSP has seen a boost in sales at its travel stores but is still far below pre-pandemic levels, the company has revealed.
Bosses said there was a significant improvement in the past three months as lockdown restrictions ease, but they remain around just 47% of pre-pandemic levels.
The company said domestic travel, which makes up around 60% of all sales, alongside leisure travel is recovering more rapidly than international and business travel.
In the last week alone, revenue was around 53% of 2019 levels – a vast improvement on the three months to the end of June when they stood at just 27%.
The more recent recovery was due to 60% of sites in travel hubs being able to reopen, compared with just 30% in the previous quarter.
The strongest trading has been in continental Europe where bosses saw a strong recovery in rail travel and a busy summer holiday season in airports.
North America is also seeing a recovery in domestic air travel, the company said.
In the UK, sales in the last three months are expected to be 43% of 2019 levels following the easing of lockdown restrictions in July, with growth being driven by the rail sector, it added.
But sales remain hit in other regions where the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out has generally been slower, including Australia and Thailand with sales in the last three months expected to be only 29% of 2019 levels.
Overall, the company said it now expects to make a profit in the quarter following tight cost management and tapping into Government support, where available.