Channel 5’s Celebrity Carry on Barging has boosted canal holiday bookings
Boat hire firms are crediting the latest waterways TV series for healthy levels of bookings for canal holidays this year.
Ed Helps of the UK’s largest canal hire operator ABC Boat Hire says that Channel 5’s Celebrity Carry on Barging, featuring (pictured above, left to right) Simon Callow, Lorraine Chase, Debbie McGee and Nigel Havers, is responsible for a spike in bookings. “Since the first episode went out on Friday 17 February, we’ve seen an uplift in web traffic of nearly 40 percent and our bookings for the last two weeks are up 50 percent on this time last year.” He added that he believes other programmes such as Channel 4’s Great Canal Journeys are also doing their bit to bring canal holidays to new audiences.
Other members of the Drifters inland waterways holidays group are also seeing booking soar: Napton Narrowboats says that holidays booked are up 13 percent since last year, while Black Prince holidays report a 31 percent rise.
