A Cornish business has witnessed a massive increase in demand for seaside holiday accommodation, following the relaxation of Covid-19 social distancing measures in early July.

Falmouth-based holiday company Simply Sea Views has seen its website traffic more than double, as more people than ever search for coastal properties for a post-lockdown holiday.

The hike in demand began on June 19 when the Government announced that UK residents could travel internally again from early July. Since then, website visitor numbers have soared and bookings have increased substantially.

Visits to simplyseaviews.co.uk increased by 153% from an average of 4,500 users per day in the week before the announcement to 11,400 users per day in the week leading up to July 19.

Website traffic peaked at 13,975 unique users on July 19, which made it the busiest day in the company’s history.

Business founder and owner Josh Williams commented: “For the past month, we’ve been inundated with enquiries from people looking for holiday accommodation on the coast. It has been our busiest period since we launched the website five years ago.”

Analysis of search terms used to access the website revealed that a majority of visits were from people looking for beach holidays, coastal cottages and properties with sea views.

Williams continued: “It seems that people were desperate to escape to the seaside for a holiday as soon as restrictions eased. It’s always a busy time of year, but levels of demand have been exceptional this season.

“We expected staycations to be very popular this year, as people are reluctant to travel abroad, but we’ve been blown away by the huge spike in interest for holidays by the sea.

“We’re in the unique situation where demand is outstripping the supply of holiday homes and we have very limited availability left for this summer. We’re suggesting people visit in the autumn instead when things are quieter. We’re hoping this will help to extend the season and bring much needed custom for coastal tourism businesses.”