UK’s travel quarantine ‘will cost millions of tourism jobs’
REQUIRING TRAVELLERS arriving in the UK to go into quarantine will cost millions of tourism jobs, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has warned.
He said his airline is experiencing a “collapse of inward bookings” for flights this summer, because people are being told to self-isolate for 14 days under Government measures to guard against a second wave of coronavirus.
All passengers, bar a handful of exemptions, now have to fill out an online locator form giving their contact and travel details, as well as the address of where they will isolate.
Mr O’Leary told Good Morning Britain: “We’re seeing thousands of British families booking their holidays in Portugal, in Spain and Italy, but there’s almost a collapse
‘Hundreds of thousands of people from Europe simply won’t travel.’
of inward bookings bringing those Italians, bringing those Europeans here to the UK, on which Britain’s tourism industry depends, particularly in the peak months of July and August.
“What’s irrational about it is all of those countries have a much lower Covid rate than the UK.”
He added: “Millions of jobs are going to be lost in British tourism because British hotels, British guest houses, British visitor attractions – all over London, the Globe, the London Eye, Madame Tussauds – will be empty, because the hundreds of thousands of Italians and Spanish and French people you get coming to Britain every July and August simply won’t travel.”
Ryanair joined with rival airlines easyJet and British Airways in starting legal proceedings over the “disproportionate and unfair” policy.
They sent a pre-action letter to the Government on Friday, which is the first step in an application for judicial review. Mark Tanzer, chief executive of travel trade organisation Abta, called on ministers to outline a “coordinated plan” for encouraging people to travel to and from the UK.