This weekend’s latest knee jerk reaction to a spike of Covid-19 cases in selected areas of Spain is probably the final nail in the coffin for many small and medium sized tour operators who were hoping for a modest recovery in demand in August.
With some cash coming in, at least both airlines and the wider travel trade could have demonstrated that demand will come back when they go cap in hand to the market for cash and loan guarantees this autumn. They can forget that now. (How’s the Sangria this morning Mr Shapps?)
It is also a decision that doesn’t make any sense. Anyone could happily now rebook an easyjet or Ryanair flight to connect via France, Germany or Switzerland if they really needed to avoid quarantine.
Challenged to get the economy working again, the UK airlines and tour operators initially made incredible progress to get scheduled services back in the skies at relatively short notice and put some consumer cash back into the wheels of the economy.
And then, just as our government ministers were probably finishing their BBQs on Saturday evening (do you pass the port around at a barbie?) they manged to trump themselves. Well done guys!
Saturday evening’s announcement has destroyed consumer confidence, crushing demand for those who might have been tempted to take a holiday abroad in the next few months.
Can we trust the data we are being given? Are we making coherent decisions based on data? Do I really need another airline voucher…..probably not!
Rather than being treated as children, would it not be better to actually start accepting that we are ALL going to have to learn to live with Covid-19. Applying limited travel restrictions on a case-by-case basis rather than lumping Barcelona (where Catalonia reported 8,500 coronavirus cases in the last fortnight) in the same bracket as Palma (the Balearics reported just 92 cases over the same time frame) would make more sense and would indeed “follow the data”.
The leadership, guidance from government, trade associations and many industry leaders has been woeful in the last six months.
All we all ask for is clarity, effective communication and controlled responses to increasing rates of infection, as and when they occur. Is there a way we can move forward without having to rely on poor advice and guidance from our employees? After all, we are the taxpayers!
It’s about time ministers at the DfT started behaving like leaders and realised this is not a game or a management exercise, but real life and death for the travel industry. And if that isn’t possible, join your boss in Spain and stay away until we sort your mess out for you.
Happy holidays Mr Shapps!
John Grant is a senior analyst at OAG.
