COACH holiday group Daish’s Holidays says bookings immediately following Christmas were 44 per cent up on last year.

The boost followed the best Christmas in the Bournemouth-based company’s 44-year history, with occupancy across its 12 hotels up 21 per cent on 2021.

Daish’s Holidays says its experience support a recent survey by GoCompare which found the number of people will choose a UK holiday in 2023 had more than tripled to 41 per cent.

Paul Harper, commercial director at Daish’s Holidays, said: “The booking figures we have seen in recent months are extremely encouraging and could highlight that the UK travel and tourism is thriving once again following being hit hard by the pandemic.

"These are all encouraging signs and we are witnessing that our occupancy is on the up.

“We have offered self-drive and coach trip breaks to our portfolio of hotels across England and Wales for decades and have excellent customer loyalty, with the vast majority of visitors returning to our hotels year after year.

"We offer a great choice of accommodation at some of the UK’s best locations with great entertainment, all at value for money prices – the ideal combination in the current economic climate.”

The company’s hotels include the Bournemouth Sands Hotel on Bournemouth’s West Cliff and the Russell Hotel and Hotel Prince Regent in Weymouth.