HOTEL owners are confident this will be the year of the great British staycation despite holidaymakers now able to fly overseas.

B&Bs and hotels were planning a bumper summer as quarantine rules introduced in the UK and countries across Europe were expected to halt travel plans.

But as flights begin to take off again, bosses say they are confident holidays abroad will not take business away.

Sadiq Chikte, director of the Seven Hotel on Clifton Terrace, said: “People don’t know what happens when you get to the country you’re going to.

“Visitors see Southend as a much safer option.

“Southend will see a long and very busy summer of people visiting and staying in hotels and we’re ready for it.

“People know what the restrictions are here.”

The hotel has every room open for people to use, and around 80 per cent of those were booked on Saturday, and this week.

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He added: “Business travel has decreased significantly with everyone working from home at the moment. But leisure travel has remained at the same level since before Covid-19.

“We expect both of these to rise once the summer holidays start.”

Bosses at the luxury Roslin hotel say they do not fear flights leaving Southend’s runways again.

Megan Priddle, operations manager at the hotel, in Thorpe Bay, told the Echo Southend offers something different to going abroad.

She said: “Airlines operating flights to European destinations will not impact our summer at the Roslin.

“In recent years we have seen an increase in staycations and I have no doubt this will continue.

“We are fortunate to have a hotel in a seaside town and I feel that for a lot of people this will be far more appealing than travelling abroad this summer.

“We’re only one hour away from London. The train line makes a huge difference.”

Mrs Priddle said Super Saturday was “very successful”, with 50 per cent of the rooms open for visitors to stay in.

Emma Bearman, from the Moorings B&B in Southend, is fearing the worst after easyJet announced they are looking at moving their base from the town’s airport. She added: “If the airline pull out and flights are affected, we will have a lot of empty rooms.

“Fifty per cent of our business is Europeans staying here after landing at the airport.

“We’re not open at the weekends at the moment to make sure everyone is safe.”