England’s strong performance in the World Cup so far and the UK heatwave could be troublesome for listed travel agents, including Thomas Cook (TCG), TUI (TUI) and On The Beach (OTB).

According to the latest research from GfK, both in shop and direct booking trends have been declining since the hot weather started at the end of June.

England’s second match in the World Cup on 24 June, where it beat Panama, had the biggest impact with direct bookings down 9% and shop bookings plummeting 31%.

GfK Travel & Tourism group director David Hope says bookings typically pick up after England gets knocked out, meaning holidays are delayed rather than lost altogether.

Budget airline EasyJet (EZJ) could also impact travel agents as it sets its sights on expanding into package holidays.

Berenberg says EasyJet is ‘significantly stepping up its efforts’ with a good customer base that could hit 2m, marking a fourfold increase of its current customer base. (LMJ)

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