BUSINESS NEWS iorities ahead of hoped-for restart of international travel in May. Ian Taylor reports
Tanzer believes sector on track for May 17 restart
Ian Taylor
The industry can be optimistic travel will restart from May 17 and agents and operators confident to take bookings on that basis so long as arrangements are protected. That is the view of Abta chief
executive Mark Tanzer, who suggested the caution of ministers and health officials about booking overseas holidays this summer need not mean the earliest date for a resumption of travel won’t be met. The government set May 17 as
the earliest date for a restart in its roadmap announced on February 22 and aviation minister Robert Courts said last week the government aims for travel to resume “as soon as possible after May 17”. However, asked how confident
he is of a May 17 restart, Tanzer said: “I’m optimistic.” He insisted: “If you take what the roadmap is built on, which is the vaccine rollout, the evidence is it’s cutting infection rates and taking pressure off hospitals, and those are the preconditions for that May 17 date. If we carry that
‘Taskforce’s remit is about restart risk not support’
The government’s Global Travel Taskforce is a technical body engaged in “complicated work” on the safe restart of travel and not open to industry members seeking support for the sector, according
travelweekly.co.uk
Taskforce chairman Grant Shapps
on, [May 17] could be the time international travel reopens.” Speaking on a Travel Weekly
webcast, Tanzer said: “The challenge for us is how we convert the success of the vaccine rollout into meaningful change for the industry. That is where the Global Travel Taskforce comes in. “A number of different strands of
work have to happen urgently for us to be able to convert large vaccination numbers into travel.” In the meantime, he suggested
“there are reasons why the government would be cautious”.
Mark Tanzer says: ‘A number of
strands of work have to happen urgently for us to be able to convert large
vaccination numbers into travel’ Tanzer argued: “They don’t want
to give undertakings or assurances that they have to reverse. They also don’t want people to change their behaviour at the moment. If they say ‘Yes, you’ll be fine to travel on May 17’ that would encourage a wider change in behaviour that could put the tests [for reopening] at risk. “But the bedrock on which that
date is based – lower infection rates, lower pressure on the NHS, lower hospitalisations – is moving in the right direction. Nothing since the roadmap has jeopardised that date.”
Abta tips devolved nations to tap into Westminster system
Abta is hopeful the restart of travel will be coordinated between Westminster and the devolved administrations but expects the industry to have to live with a lack of coordination with destinations. Chief executive Mark Tanzer
said: “Clearly, the devolved administrations have control over their own health and quarantine policies. What we share is an interest in getting travel going again.” He said if the government taskforce
“comes up with a system that manages risk and gets people moving, I don’t see why the other administrations won’t be keen to join that”. Tanzer noted the EU is working
on a digital vaccination certificate proposal “to enable travel within the EU for people who have had a vaccination” and said: “If we can be part of that, obviously it would help.” He added: “Abta is in close
dialogue with destinations as to what their strategy is going to be around getting British tourists in and what controls they might look for.” But he noted: “Countries will
have different risk profiles in terms of people coming in. As an industry, we have be ready to help customers thread their way through it.”
to Abta chief Mark Tanzer. There have been demands for
the taskforce to include industry representatives, but Tanzer said: “There are very clear terms of reference. Having industry bodies with particular expertise is critical. “It’s a technical taskforce
not a general ‘how can we bring support to the industry’ group. The taskforce has a real job of work to do between now and April 12.” Abta is “representing members
in the taskforce and very much part of it”, he said. Tanzer added: “The taskforce is
looking for a risk-based framework. So how much risk will you tolerate and how much pressure would that risk put on the health system is what the taskforce needs to consider. It’s a lot of complicated work but there is good work to build on. “It’s a tight deadline, but we must
achieve that if we’re going to have as full a summer season as possible.”
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PICTURE: Shutterstock
PICTURE: Richard Townshend
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