A HOLIDAY boss has hit out at Boris Johnson’s government, saying more European holiday destinations should be added to the UK’s green travel list.
Garry Wilson, chief executive of EasyJet Holidays, told BBC Breakfast yesterday: “The good news is travel is re-opening and our customers can look forward to those well-earned breaks in the summer that they’ve been waiting many months for.
“I think the very disappointing news is just the number of countries that are on the list, and if you look at European countries there’s very few, and of those European countries, the major holiday destination is Portugal.
“So, we did think it was very cautious and it is really not aligning with the approach the Government has taken to open up domestic travel and we don’t think it is backed up by the science or the data.
“So, we’re really expecting to see very soon a lot of the other major European holiday destinations opening up.”
He added: “We believe, looking at the science and looking at the data, that places like the Greek islands, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, very popular holiday destinations, actually do meet those criteria and should be on that list.”
Maria Elena Rossi, marketing director of the Italian Tourist Board, said the nation being on the UK Government’s amber travel list is a “pity”.
Rossi said she was “disappointed” by the announcement, but that it was “expected”.
She said: “The fact we are on the amber list is a pity because for us the UK market is a very, very important source market.
“Before the pandemic we had more than 12 million overnights coming from the UK, but we are very confident the situation might change.”
ROSSI added: “Italy is developing several Covid-free zones, especially on islands, which is a policy that has been enforced in other countries.
“We are working together with the UK tourism industry in order to be ready as soon as possible.”
Virologist Dr Chris Smith has supported the Government’s cautious approach in opening up international travel through a traffic light system.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “A lot of good work has gone in to putting us in the strong position we’re in in this country, and we don’t want to potentially endanger, imperil or undermine that good work by importing back to our country cases of coronavirus that could bypass the protection we’ve given our population by being a variant of some kind.
“The measures that have been put in place I think are sensible. I think they are measured measures at the moment. But it is an unknown bit of territory we are going into, so it’s important we take small steps and have measures in place to measure what we’re doing.”
Smith encouraged the public to be patient by saying: “There are lots of cases of viruses spreading among people at the moment, and I’m thinking of India. We are seeing in our country right now imported cases of a variant from India which is spreading.
“What we don’t want to do is send people who have been vaccinated overseas, because if you think about it, the only case of a virus coming back with one of those people is going to be one that can bypass the protection conferred by their vaccine.
“So, they could potentially bring that back and start it spreading across the country. These are all measures that will work for now, they’re not going to be here forever, I think we just have to sit tight for a little bit longer.”
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