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Despite hopes of take-off this month, a TTG poll of nearly 700 readers found that just 40% are confident of a stronger summer this year than last year.
Many in travel, nearly half of all respondents, told TTG it was their belief the government’s traffic light lists would come too late to truly kick-start international travel this month
Publication of the lists, which will sort countries into “green”, “amber” and “red” categories based on several Covid risk factors, is expected in early May ahead of the 17 May “at the very earliest” date for the resumption of international travel. However, 45% of respondents said this would be too late to get people away promptly.
Aito head of commercial Bharat Gadhoke told TTG most members would likely postpone departures until June. "We’re are talking about five days to get things together," he said. It’s not going to happen.
"A lot depends on agreements with suppliers, and whether they are flexible or if they want payment before travel. If someone was departing in the third week of May, those balances were due a while ago. I think decisions were made to delay the start of programmes."
Four in 10 respondents said they were still unsure how strong the restart would be, although 34% said they were confident summer 2021 would be better than summer 2020. A further 6% said they believed travel was in for a strong summer.
A major factor will be to extent to which Foreign Office travel advice aligns with the traffic light system; 84% of the 694 respondents said it was vital government departments were in agreement to avoid a repeat of last summer’s stop-start travel corridor system.
Neither the Foreign Office nor the Department for Transport would give TTG an answer on alignment. A DfT spokesperson said decisions would be made through the government’s Covid-19 operations committee, which includes the FCDO.
The TTG poll was conducted over 28-29 April after transport secretary Grant Shapps revealed travellers would be able to verify their Covid status via the NHS app with a vaccine certificate or negative test result.
Shapps said he was working to make sure the system was internationally recognised, although a G7 meeting on the matter, chaired by Shapps, was due to take place in the week beginning 3 May – just a fortnight before the 17 May restart.
Destinations have hinted at different protocols. Greece’s tourism minister reportedly said NHS vaccination cards would suffice, only for his office to roll back on this. Spain and Portugal, meanwhile, have said they are focusing on digital solutions. This could mean vaccinated Brits keen to travel from 17 May may yet have to pay for tests if there is no common agreement.
More than half of poll respondents said they would support use of the NHS app as a digital health pass, and the DfT said it was working on a solution to allow people to prove their Covid-19 status for outbound travel.
Concerns, though, have been raised over access to the app, which is currently limited to iOS and Android devices, and discrepancy in usage by GPs. “The app is capable of allowing patients to view their vaccination status if their GP has permitted access,” said the DoH.
The British Medical Association told TTG any digital solution must focus on allowing people to access their vaccine history and previous test results. “This information is held centrally, so should not require practice involvement.”
Meanwhile, the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association has raised concerns over the Scottish government’s commitment to a four nations approach to the restart, despite a pledge by first minister Nicola Sturgeon to work with the UK government and other devolved nations on “a common approach”.
President Joanne Dooey told TTG some agencies chose not to reopen last month with clients reluctant to book in case a country is not “green lit”. “Each day that goes by with no announcements, the chances of them reopening successfully gets slimmer,” she said.
Dooey said one serious concern was an increase in clients asking to move bookings to English departure airports.
Jacqueline Dobson, president of Barrhead Travel, added: “Anything other than a four nations approach will lead to Scottish holidaymakers crossing the border to depart from airports such as Newcastle or Manchester. This would put Scottish aviation and connectivity at risk and have a number of knock-on impacts.”
“We must see more engagement with the Scottish government in the coming weeks to ensure that Scots holidaymakers are not disadvantaged.”
Tim Alderslade, chief executive, Airlines UK
"The Global Travel Taskforce report was a missed opportunity. While the tiered, traffic light structure is something we support and had called for, we have concerns the framework will fail to deliver a meaningful restart to international travel without a major relaxation of restrictions and complexity.
"Obviously, the immediate focus is on the initial 17 May restart date. We strongly believe the evidence points to many of our major markets – including the US and much of the EU – being listed as “green”. The success of the vaccination roll-out and the improving health picture at home – alongside emerging tools like digital health passes and accurate, rapid testing – means we can protect public health and support the UK’s economic recovery.
"The green tier is crucial. For most consumers, “amber” status effectively means closed, as it requires quarantine and multiple tests. So we need to see changes made to the framework and for ministers to show more ambition.
"What action do we need? The recognition of vaccination status is critical, as is reducing testing requirements – which should not be required under the green tier.
"The islands policy, a lifeline last summer, should continue, and Foreign Office travel advice needs to align with the tier system. Testing costs must also come down.
"All this needs to happen as soon as humanly possible. Summer and autumn is too late if we are to safeguard this industry and the thousands of jobs depending on it."
