In response to the UK government updating its travel advice for Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland, an ABTA spokesperson stated, ?Today?s addition of the Czech Republic, Jamaica and Switzerland to the government?s quarantine list, and the FCO advisories against all but essential travel to those countries, will have upset the travel plans of many customers, and added to the difficulties of their travel organisers.?
"As long as quarantine remains the principal strategy in the government?s containment of COVID-19, the travel industry will continue to suffer. Given the rapid change in infection rates in different areas, it is vital the government moves as quickly as possible to assess risk on a regionalised, not whole-country basis. Only by doing this will we be able to minimise the impact on consumer confidence to book and to travel, and minimise the impact on an industry that has already seen 90,000 livelihoods affected,? the spokesperson added.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO at Advantage Travel Partnership, commented, ?With Switzerland, Jamaica and the Czech Republic now being removed from the UK government?s ?safe list? of travel corridors, the continual stop / start of destinations is having disastrous consequences on consumer confidence, and for a destination like Switzerland, a real impact on business travel.?
?Now is the perfect opportunity for the government to introduce testing at airports to instil some confidence back into travellers as time spent in quarantine may be reduced, and it will assist in the prevention of transmission of COVID-19. For leisure travellers, it would help ease the worry of the re-introduction of unexpected quarantine announcements. For business travellers, it would definitely help to kick-start the sector which needs to begin operating again,? she concluded.
