A total of 129m trips worth £100bn have been lost due to COVID, according to research by Holiday Extras.

Of these, it says 45m were due to ‘bureaucracy’ and Government restrictions.

Holiday Extras came up with the figures after asking 12,000 UK holidaymakers whether they were planning to fly during the pandemic and, if not, what was putting them off.

It said its most recent research showed unpredictable changes to the travel rules were a bigger deterrent than the virus itself.

When last polled in September and December, 59% of respondents said they were put off by government rules, 20% were concerned about catching the virus, and 10% couldn’t travel as their destination was closed.

Group CEO Matthew Pack said: “While the relaxation of the testing requirements for inbound travel will give holidaymakers a confidence boost and help the sector recover, the cost and hassle associated with private lateral flow tests is still a barrier for many – and will continue to cost us all in both trips and much-needed revenue.

“Since the start of the pandemic our business alone has lost 11 million bookings to the pandemic, and more than three million of those were people put off travelling by the unpredictable changes to government travel rules.

“People can’t keep giving up their holidays, and travel companies can’t keep losing money, to travel rules that seem to change every day but achieve nothing – the government needs to support the industry and make travel as simple as possible.”  

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government will announce how it plans to stabilise travel later this month.