World Travel Lounge, which has eight shops across Lancashire and Merseyside, will begin offering tests for £30 per passenger this weekend. 

The agency has chosen to absorb half the cost of the test, usually priced at £60 after it secured a deal with Randox.

Owner David McDonald told TTG he “wanted to do something to get people through the door” and, despite the discount cutting into booking margins, he believed “it’s better to have part of something than all of nothing”.

McDonald added he hoped the approach would help boost footfall into stores and win customer loyalty for the future.

“People are desperate to get away and we want to do what we can to help them. We’re a travel agency with the community at the heart of what we do and we want to be that trusted place for people to come and book,” he said.

“This is going to hit at our bottom line, but we’re doing it to help our customers and we won’t be inflating our prices to cover the costs. I’m confident that it will help bring in business and set us apart.”

Tui announced on Thursday (6 May) it will offer testing Covid-19 packages from £20 per person and McDonald said he would support customers choosing to book.

World Travel Lounge will begin offering the £30 tests this weekend ahead of launching a new customer campaign on 17 May.

McDonald added that April had been the agency’s busiest month since the pandemic began, with hopes that “sales are really going to boom” when the government’s “green list” is published on Friday (7 May).