Continued from page 56


to the point where the [entry] policy will be right for public health and the economy. What we had was policies being dictated by the ability [to control] the border. It was pretty much the cart before the horse.” Barriers remain in the way


of harmonising international requirements, although Keller notes the government is working with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on this. He said: “It’s going to be


a long haul because ICAO can only issue guidelines on procedures. The decisions are taken by health people and scientists. So we’re a long way off, but we didn’t see harmonisation even within the EU.” Unvaccinated travellers will


also continue to face obstacles. Keller said: “Governments


have seen vaccination is the way out of this pandemic. We can see the confidence in the UK government that vaccination is working. “To have a light-touch set of


restrictions for non-vaccinated people would take away an incentive to be vaccinated.” But he does foresee “more


commonality about the type of test” required. He argued: “The


pre-departure test being removed for vaccinated people coming into the UK was a massive step forward. “A pre-departure test is


pretty pointless when the rate of infection in your country is higher than the country you’re coming from. An arrival test is better and that is what the UK is now focusing on. Other countries would be better doing what the UK is doing.”


Ian Taylor


Some countries on the UK’s red list of destinations which remain subject to quarantine restrictions feel “very close to normal”, according to a leading destination management company in the region. Gary Cohen, regional general


manager for the Americas at Peak DMC – part of Intrepid – told a Latin American Travel Association Expo panel there has been “a dramatic improvement” in the region. Speaking from Lima, Cohen said:


“It has been a brutal period during Covid. Peru has had the highest death rate per capita in the world. Pretty much everyone has lost a family member or a friend. We lost a member of staff here in Lima and other staff lost family members.” But now he insisted: “Peru feels


very close to normal. I just got back from a week in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Cusco was buzzing. There was a good mix of national


54 21 OCTOBER 2021 Machu Picchu, Peru


and international tourists. Safety protocols are in place. “Nearly everything has gone back


to normal apart from mask wearing and capacity reductions. For example, the Inca Trail would normally have a limit of 16 in a group and it’s currently eight and will move to 10 next year. “The Covid stats at the moment


are good. Cases of hospitalisation and deaths are dramatically lower than a few months ago.” Peru remains on the UK red list


along with Colombia, the Dominican


Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. But Cohen said: “We operate


across Latin America and we’ve seen the statistics improving dramatically across the region. There were recent spikes in Costa Rica and Belize, but apart from that almost the whole region has been trending downwards significantly, leading to restrictions being lifted in Argentina and Chile. From November 1, international tourists will be able to travel there. “Colombia has been open for


tourism for some time. So has Ecuador, and these countries are doing increasingly well on vaccination.” He noted: “That doesn’t mean


most of the region is open. There are still restrictions in place. But pretty much every country we operate to will be open from November.” Cohen added: “One challenge is


that a lot of people come to do multi- country trips, crossing land borders,


so we do need to get that flowing.” i Lata Expo, page 10


travelweekly.co.uk


Italy’s new state carrier ITA seeks big-carrier tie-up


Italy’s new state airline Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA) took over from Alitalia at the end of last week. The former flag-carrier ceased


flying on October 14 and ITA launched a day later. Alitalia had been in


administration since 2017 after former shareholder Etihad withdrew support. Having failed


to find an investor, the Italian government established ITA last November. It paid €90 million for the Alitalia brand and livery, with the European Commission agreeing to exempt ITA from liability for previous state aid. However, the Alitalia name has been dropped and livery only partially retained. ITA chairman Alfredo Altavilla,


a former Fiat executive, revealed the airline would seek a deal with a larger carrier, saying: “ITA will start talks to reach a deal, aiming to complete by 2022.” Alitalia was part of the SkyTeam alliance of Air France-KLM and


An Alitalia aircraft in 2015


Delta Air Lines, but Altavilla said: “I’m open to negotiate with everyone.” The carrier will operate 52 aircraft and employ 2,800 staff, compared with Alitalia’s 110 aircraft and 10,000 employees.


‘Some red list destinations feel very close to normal’


PICTURES: Shutterstock/Ondrej Zabransky, David Ionut


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