“I have had people in tears, I have had people in the shop shouting; so much grief, it’s horrible,” she said.

Her customers’ anger is mirrored by the trade’s frustration about the lack of notice given for moving the UK’s only mainstream destination off the green list. “It’s not the fact that they can’t go to Portugal, it’s the way it was done,” said Thorne. “The traffic light system is not fit for purpose.”

For many like her, taking Portugal off the list so nonchalantly is seen as symptomatic of Downing Street’s ignorance of the industry.

“This has ripped our industry to shreds with no consideration or understanding from the government,” said Cartwright Travel managing director Steve Cartwright.

“It’s taken away all confidence. The travel industry has been kicked by the government from the beginning of this. I’ve been in this industry for 44 years and I’ve never seen people so discontented or disheartened.

“I don’t think they understand our plight. I’d like to see government officials spend time in an agency, then they’d understand we’re front-line.”

Agents spent the days after the announcement rebooking clients and worrying whether summer 2021 would be even worse than 2020.

“From a consumer perspective, there’s no point in booking, because it’s so haphazard,” said Thorne, who said her sales had “fallen off a cliff”. 

“All we got was people booked for July and August saying ’change my dates’. It’s worse than last year by far.”

However, she said clients were happy to rebook for 2022.

Cartwright said his agency had anticipated the chaos that ensued over Portugal. “We were ready to sell Madeira for June/July but held back until September. I’m glad we did.” 

More so, perhaps, because as he points out, some of his customers are on their third amendment to their original booking. “I’ve not stopped working since March.”

Some are dismayed at the fog of negativity surrounding travel and the unwitting misinformation emanating from some parts of the media.

“Twice I have had to correct TV presenters saying it’s illegal to travel; it’s not illegal,” said Thorne.

Two summers of uncertainty are taking their toll on staff morale. In Northern Ireland, Oasis Travel reopened all six branches on 4 May, but owner Sandra Corkin said three-quarters of staff were still furloughed. 

“Normally we have 48 staff, but only 18 are working, we have two in a shop at any one time and we’re opening 10am-4pm to try to save as much as we can because we’ve next to nothing coming in.

“The last time we were open, before Christmas, staff were very down because there was so little communication from customers. Now at least people are coming in and phoning for advice. We’re getting enquiries for next year, at least that’s something staff can work on.”

Pessimism among consumers is, however, affecting sales. “We’re finding people who’ve booked for August and September starting to want to change. There’s less confidence around that anything will happen this summer.”

In Scotland, Thorne Travel has also seen the effects on staff. “Some are upset, some are thinking, ‘is it going to come back?’” I’ve brought some staff back from furlough, but they are back two days a week and doing training.”

Agents in Northern Ireland face another hurdle in persuading consumers to buy holidays.

“We don’t have Test to Release, so for amber countries it’s a full 10 days’ quarantine. Also, we don’t have the NHS app, so we can’t go to Iceland,” said Corkin.

She applied for Northern Ireland’s sector grant in March but is “still waiting”. However, her appearance on ITV’s local news on Sunday might help matters. “We were the lead story and they got someone on from the Executive who said they’d look into it.”

Elsewhere, such support is not even in the pipeline, but many believe it will be needed if the summer is lost again.

“Furlough is great, but it doesn’t pay the rent. We are £3,500 a month without the staff,” said Thorne.

In Wales, Cartwright is confident his business, which sells nationally, will survive, but added: “If lockdown continues and the government decides to change the goalposts within two to three days, I think lots of agents will go out of business. It’s all very well having future bookings, but they don’t pay the bills.”

Deben Travel’s Lee Hunt would concur with the latter. “As an industry, we will need something to see us through. Next month we have to start paying business rates and make contributions towards furlough,” he said, adding his “big bugbear” was government grants given to the aviation sector.

“The next government announcement is the end of June. Maybe we will pick up some late summer business and if nothing else, encourage confidence for September/October. I’m trying to financially plan for August and September, and I can’t. It’s desperate.”

Hunt is still waiting for his business interruption insurance payout, but meanwhile like the rest of the industry, is dealing with booking amendments prompted by the government’s latest edict and with collecting final balances.

“The greatest issue we have is we are calling around asking for balance payments for August and September, because operators want them; but clients aren’t confident in paying balances for a holiday that might not go ahead.”

Some existing bookings were transferring to 2022, he said, but bookings generally were being hit by consumer worries that changes to amber status for a destination meant they might be offered an amendment instead of a refund.

Hunt has seen new enquiries for 2022 dry up since the announcement. 

“When the government changed Portugal at such short notice, it made people really uncomfortable; whereas before, we were able to tell people they would get two weeks’ notice.

“Really, at the moment, our life is amending and cancelling. Before, 95% were transferring, now we are looking at people changing for the third or fourth time. Where there’s a low deposit, some are taking the decision to just give up, especially if there’s a price rise.”

One sentence from him perhaps sums up the thoughts of many on the travel industry’s experience of the pandemic – and perhaps its treatment by government: “Absolutely terrible – it’s a complete disaster.”