Roadmap to Recovery


Travel minefield ‘is agent opportunity’


Juliet Dennis


Agents have welcomed the easing of travel restrictions but say they are dealing with an information “minefield” because of confusion about where consumers can travel. The government’s two lists


(page 5) offer a “lifeline” and an opportunity for agents, but the trade said the conflicting information presented a “challenge”. Speaking on a Travel Weekly


webcast, agents said clients contacted them straight after news of the changes on Friday. Alistair McLean, owner of


Dorking Travel said: “We had people calling saying ‘now we can go’, and we had to say ‘it’s not as simple as that’. Clarity is all over the place.” Citing Greece as an example,


he said: “You can come back from Greece and not self-isolate but you cannot go to Greece. That was met with incredulity [by clients].” Amanda Matthews, managing


director of homeworking group Designer Travel, said: “For Greece you have to fill out one form per person, and you get an email 24 hours before travel with a QR [code]. You have to take that and the form to


Quarantine for arrivals into the UK is easing from July 10


the airport, otherwise you won’t get on the plane.” Designer Travel is compiling


a checklist of requirements for destinations, airlines and airports, and has brought back to work a full-time administrator to help with the workload. Matthews added: “It’s a process nightmare.” Miles Morgan Travel chairman


Miles Morgan called the lack of clarity “a disaster” but said: “If there is a positive for retail agents it’s that you need a proper agent to get through the minefield. It’s so complicated.” He hoped the public would start


to recognise the value of agents and view them with the same regard as professions such as solicitors. To achieve this, McLean stressed


it was critical agents were “on top of our game”, while Matthews called on online travel companies to play their part in arming consumers with all the right information. She said: “My biggest worry is


people turning up at the airport not having gone through all the hoops. Can you imagine the bad press if people can’t get on the flight? We’ll all be tarred by the same brush. This is our time to shine; we don’t want to be let down by those who don’t.”


Lists ‘confusing’ Ian Taylor


The government gave the go-ahead for travel to restart from Friday with delayed publication of a list of destinations free of UK quarantine restrictions and near-simultaneous relaxation of Foreign Office advice against travel. Discrepancies between the


‘travel corridors’ and Foreign Office lists (page 5) caused widespread confusion – as did the failure of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to follow Westminster’s lead. The promised ‘traffic light’ ranking of countries was also not apparent. But aviation sources suggested


the confusion gave the travel trade an essential role and said the inclusion of destinations with restrictions on arrivals was at the industry’s request. Speaking on a Travel Weekly


webcast, Derek Jones, chief executive of Kuoni parent Der Touristik UK,


4 9 JULY 2020


branded the quarantine restrictions “a pantomime from start to finish” and Quash Quarantine campaign spokesman Paul Charles warned: “Most consumers won’t have a clue.” A senior airline source said “it’s


STORY TOP


not lined up”, but explained: “The ‘corridors’ list is based on the risk of reintroducing Covid-19 to the UK. The FCO list is that it’s safe [to travel] not that it’s easier. “The government is


saying it is passengers’ and airlines’ responsibility to look at restrictions [in


destinations]. The travel trade


needs to make this clear to people. We don’t want people being sold the wrong thing.” The source suggested the


government had “taken on board” the need to cross-reference the FCO and quarantine-exemption lists. But referring to the inclusion of countries with restrictions on arrivals, the source insisted: “We’re not critical


travelweekly.co.uk


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