MADRID – In parliament on Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced international holiday travel may be permitted from 17 May. Also, domestic travel is expected to be reactivated on April 12.
Travel industry confidence
According to travel portal Travelmole, the news has sparked confidence among travellers and the major players in the tourism industry. This is despite the fact that changes may occur as a result of the evolution of the pandemic. Furthermore, the main tour operators in the country have confirmed consumers have received the news enthusiastically and bookings have skyrocketed.
Thanks to the prime minister’s announcement, multinational tour operator TUI had the best booking day in months. Thomas Cook registered double the number of visitors to the website from 3 PM. And Easyjet reported a tripling of flight bookings.
Vaccination certificate
On the same day, a UK travel megalobby Save Future Travel wrote an open letter to Boris Johnson. The letter was asking to revitalise tourism in the summer and to help the industry recover as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the sector is asking the government for economic support and the implementation of a vaccination certificate.
Following the open letter, the partnership wanted to take advantage of Johnson’s public action. Most importantly, to announce a “roadmap” that guarantees the return of “safe travel” this summer.
Testing system
Moreover, the industry demand a ‘practical and cost-effective’ diagnostic testing system ‘. Especially as many companies cannot wait for the full implementation of the Covid-19 vaccine. Apart from that not everyone will want to be vaccinated.
In addition, travel should be made easier by relaxing restrictions (testing and quarantines) for people when producing a vaccination certificate.
Spanish tourist industry
As a tourist market, the United Kingdom is essential to the Spanish tourism industry. For instance, in record year 2019, a total of 83.7million tourists visited Spain. More than 18million of these were British.
