CORONA CRISIS VIVA ESPANA
Summer hol hopes for Brits For great holiday ideas, see page 40
BRITS yearning for a summer getaway were given a glimmer of hope yesterday after Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez announced: “We’ll be waiting for you from July.”
The country, our fave hotspot with 15.2 million of us jetting there every year, will lift quarantine restrictions for foreigners from July 1.
Our Government plans to quarantine people flying into the UK for two weeks, from June 8 – but the measures will be reviewed every few weeks and ministers hope to strike pacts with other top tourist destinations with low levels of infection.
These travel arrangements will be know as “air bridges”, although details are still being ironed out.
If we can’t book a foreign holiday, it should be a bumper year for the British tourism industry which hopes to be back in business by July. So what lies ahead for travel plans?
Spain (pop 46million, death toll: 28,628) 15.3m UK visitors a year
Spain announced it was ready to welcome Brits from July. Lockdown has eased in about half the country including the Costa del Sol where bars, shops and cafes can open. Beaches will reopen by end of the month with new social distancing rules. Restaurants in Barcelona and Madrid can only serve 10 customers. Masks on public transport and recommended for activities where social distancing is not guaranteed. Quarantine period lifted at end of June.
Portugal (pop 10million, death toll 1,289) 2.8m UK visitors a year
Hotels are set to start reopening on June 1. Each room must be unoccupied for at least 24 hours between guests. Beaches set to open on June 6 with social distancing. Beach sports such as volleyball limited to two. In the Algarve, three quarters of hotels expected to reopen next month. Face masks mandatory on public transport and enclosed spaces. Public gatherings of more than 10 people banned. Tourists welcome again. Brits will not be quarantined if the UK does the same.
TRAVEL insurance premiums are set to rise by more than 20 per cent, with even bigger hikes for passengers on cruises where the virus is seen as riskier.
The cost of an average single policy has shot up from £26 to £31 over the year, according to price comparison site Gocompare. Experts say tourists will also find it impossible to get cover for any impact the virus may have on their holidays. Insurers have had to pay out £275m for
cancelled trips.
Greece (pop 10million, death toll 169) 2.4m UK visitors.
Hotels and tourist spots set to reopen from June 1. Some beaches have already opened with strict social distancing. Customers can sit outside restaurants and bars. Beach bars stay shut. International flights resume on June 15 from countries deemed safe. Cruise ships banned from docking in ports. An offer to scrap a 14-day quarantine on arriving Brits if the UK does the same.
Turkey (pop 82million, death toll 4, 746) 2.5m UK visitors a year.
Hotels and beaches could reopen by next weekend. But travellers must quarantine for 14 days. Masks mandatory on public transport and in public places. Sun loungers 1.5m apart when beaches reopen.
Italy (pop 60million, death toll 32,616) 4.3m UK visitors a year.
Borders to reopen on June 3. Bars and cafes have already reopened and beaches
CRISIS-HIT airlines have been getting ready for take-off following the worldwide collapse in air travel.
Easyjet wants to resume operations in mid-june, while Ryanair is planning to run 40 per cent of its flights from July.
The pandemic grounded most major flights in and out of the UK, and has sparked a wave of redundancies. British Airways is expected to follow soon. Some hotels likely to reopen next month. Italy is expected to press for exemption from the UK’S quarantine rule. Face masks mandatory in enclosed public spaces and beach umbrellas must be five metres apart.
France (pop 66million, death toll 28,289) 8.5m UK visitors a year.
Borders set to remain closed until at least June 15. Bars and cafes likely to reopen on June 2. Some beaches slowly reopening. UK tourists will be welcome with an “air bridge and sea corridor” deal. If the UK imposes a 14-day quarantine rule on all arrivals from June 8, France will do the same to anyone from Britain. Face masks mandatory on public transport.
Staycations
UK holiday parks and campsites could be back in business by early July.hotels and B&BS are likely to wait longer to open because of problems about social distancing. The Caravan and Motorhome Club, which runs 2,500 campsites and grounds said bookings are up 14 per cent. cutting 12,000 jobs, while Ryanair has threatened to axe 3,000 pilots and cabin crew.
Another 3,150 jobs are going at Virgin Atlantic after it failed to secure a £500million bailout from the Government. The airline has also abandoned Gatwick airport, where billionaire Sir
Richard Branson launched its inaugural flight 36 years ago.
Easyjet, Britain’s biggest budget airline, will restart its popular Gatwick-to-nice route from June 15.
Some domestic flights will also restart if there is the demand. Initially, there will be no onboard food service and all passengers and crew will be expected to wear masks. The
SERVICE with a smile could become a thing of the past at many hotels as staff wear masks and gloves.
Hotel owners are introducing social distancing and hygiene measures so they can reopen safely in a move bound to push up prices.
Breakfast is likely to be the biggest change with the end of the buffet, and contactless room service taking its place.
Hotels are also sanitising door handles, buttons and switches, and installing state-of-the-art ventilation systems and footwear disinfection areas.
Other new measures are likely to include bookable swimming times and more personal training sessions.
Martyn James, of consumer website Resolver, said: “Customers will have to manage their expectations.”
airline says it will improve aircraft cleaning.
BA still operates a number of routes within the UK, and hopes to resume flying from July at 50 per cent capacity.
Ryanair has also continued to fly a skeleton daily schedule of 30 flights between Ireland, the UK and Europe, while Jet2 cancelled all flights and holiday packages until June 17.
DESPERATE travel firms have slashed prices by up to 40 per cent in a bid to give autumn bookings the kiss of life.
They are clamouring to woo back holidaymakers whose summer trips have been cancelled.
Britons are advised against all but essential foreign travel and plans to quarantine arrivals for 14 days from next month have put paid to the summer holiday hopes of millions.
Companies anxious to recoup losses are cutting prices for autumn and winter travellers from October.
A week’s half-board at the Protur Alicia Hotel in Majorca with holiday giant Tui has been reduced from £615 to £475 per head.
Rush
Travelsupermarket’s Emma Coulthurst said: “The desire to travel later in the year is very much there but there’s an element of holding back from booking until the path back to travel is clearer.
“It is not known how long quarantine measures are going to be in place.”
The Association of British Travel Agents said: “Hotels, airlines and tour operators will be preparing now to tap into a rush of bookings once travel restrictions are lifted.”
Bargain breaks from October
Half-board at Protur Alicia Hotel, Majorca.
Was £615 Now £475
Tui
All-inclusive at Azul Beach Resort, Negril, Jamaica.
Was £1,880 Now £1,190
Tui
All-inclusive at Atlantica Golden Beach, Paphos, Cyprus.
Was £894 Now £609
Tui
Half-board at Akron Seascape Resort, Corfu.
Was £615 Now £439
Tui
All-inclusive Club Calimera Es Talaial, Cala Egos, Majorca. Was £325 Now £291 Travelsupermarket All-inclusive Ellaidhoo Maldives by Cinnamon, Maldives.
Was £2,376pp Now £1,945 Travelsupermarket
*Prices 7 nights, per person.