Saga Cruises, which is part of the UK based Saga plc, has experienced an increase in the proportion of people who want to rebook rather than receive their money back when their cruise has been cancelled due to Covid-19, the parent company said in a trading statement.

“The average proportion of Cruise guests who have re-booked rather than take a refund stands at an average of 69% through the travel suspension period, but rose to 86% more recently, showing the pent up demand for Cruise amongst our guests who will benefit from the first round of the vaccine roll out,” the company said..

Customer demand has also been very resilient, with £140 million of total cruise bookings as at 23 January, representing 68% and 28% of the latest revenue targets for 2021/22 and 2022/23 respectively.

These figures exclude £8 million of bookings that have been cancelled and customers have chosen to receive a voucher rather than re-book a specific cruise.

As at 31 January 2020, total bookings were £127 million, representing 78% and 6% of the revenue targets at that date for 2020/21 and 2021/22, Saga said.

The company has two high end of the market cruise ships, but in addition to travel services, the company also offers a range of other products, such as insurance. It serves exclusively those over the age of 50.