NEWS


with industry experts. Watch in full at go.travelweekly.co.uk/webcasts MATURE TRAVEL


Debbie Marshall


Stuart Milan, Riviera Travel


Paul Hardwick Iain Powell


Tanzer believes preparations must start now if summer


holidays are to go ahead Travel


Weekly’s Ian Taylor


‘Vaccine rollout provides the confidence to travel’


draw up pathway to restart M


the travel industry, the Department for Transport – to think how does this work in the summer.” Tanzer insisted: “The solution to


opening up travel has to be [based on] what level of risk we’re prepared to tolerate. If it’s zero, if all our policies are geared towards not letting a single person into the country, we’re not going to have any travel. “So what is the pressure on the


health system, what is the infection rate, what is the level of risk we can tolerate in order to get the benefits of allowing people to travel? “It’s not just a UK issue, it’s an


international challenge. There is no zero-risk way out of this.” He acknowledged the government


is “taking a super-cautious approach, including quarantine, while they try to come to grips with the variants”. But he said: “I hope that as people can provide evidence they have


been vaccinated or we have more understanding of how effective current vaccines are against new variants, they can take a more relaxed view about quarantine.” Tanzer added: “Destination


governments face the same conundrum in trying to control risk within their countries and are worried about the British variant [of the virus]. “Pressure within the EU has to


come from receiving countries that need tourists badly. They missed last summer. They’re desperate to have tourists back this summer. “If having a common approach


to recognising vaccination as a sort of passport to be able to travel is part of that, it needs to be in place. Those discussions are happening at EU level, but haven’t yet produced


any standardised proposals.” i Business, back page


ature travellers are buoyed by progress of the vaccine rollout in the UK, and


experts in the sector say increased confidence in the demographic is spurring a surge in bookings. Speaking on a Travel Weekly


webcast, Silver Travel Advisor managing director Debbie Marshall said her website’s research found 95% of respondents want the vaccine, and more than 75% say having it will give them the confidence to travel or to book travel within six months. The discussion followed over-50s


specialist Saga’s announcement that it would require all customers travelling in 2021 to be vaccinated. Iain Powell, head of trade sales


and third-party cruise, said Saga had been “incredibly busy” since the announcement and reported “overwhelmingly positive feedback from both guests and travel agents”. He added that more than 95% of


customers said mandatory vaccines would make them feel comfortable about travelling. “We feel hugely positive about the impact it’s going to


travelweekly.co.uk


have on new bookings,” he said. Saga has pushed back its


resumption dates to allow customers to have their second vaccination injection in time for departures. Agency boss Paul Hardwick,


head of commercial at Fred Olsen Travel, which has a high proportion of mature customers, said: “We’re getting feedback from the shops and our homeworkers that customers are saying they’ve had the letter that the vaccine is on its way, and they can now start thinking about travel again. “Having some positive news


is going to help with consumer confidence. It will flow through to more bookings. They are desperate to book.” Hardwick reported strong


booking figures for 2022, and for later in 2021. Powell said the “latter part of 2021” was “performing exceptionally well” but that March to April was “difficult for everybody”. Panellists agreed that mature


travellers were increasingly turning to travel agents to navigate the


“minefield” of pandemic travel rules. i Get Social, page 25


28 JANUARY 2021 7


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