Vaccine passports stir hope
Europe travel industry anticipates summer tourism revival
LONDON: The race to roll out vaccination passports is spurring competition among travel companies and tourist destinations for the large number of Britons set to receive Covid-19 shots before the summer.
Thanks to its swift vaccine deployment, Britain is the only major European country likely to inoculate a large share of workingage adults by summer.
They may become the first big regional test of digital health credentials in development.
Airlines such as easyJet saw outbound bookings from Britain surge last week as the government raised the prospect of a return to quarantine-free summer travel, and the European Union agreed to develop vaccine passports under pressure from tourism-dependent southern countries.
But cooped-up consumers’ getaway plans face reality checks – from unpredictable virus variants to lingering European Union divisions over vaccine passports, with France leading resistance from several states over political and discrimination concerns.
Britain’s tentative move towards restoring travel “puts pressure on other countries to do the same, which is good for us”, said Grigoris Tasios of the Greek Hoteliers’ Federation.
Greece has eased restrictions for vaccinated Israelis and is discussing a similar arrangement with the UK.
In the aftermath of Britain’s departure from the EU, its reputedly unruly tourists are at the centre of a battered travel industry’s hopes for the peak season.
Spain, typically Britons’ numberone destination by far, has pushed
hard for EU vaccination certificates.
The island of Mallorca’s mostly shuttered hotels anxiously await details, their spokesperson Maria Duran said.
“We’re paying very close attention to the UK, the first country to design and share a roadmap for restoring mobility,” she said.
Meanwhile, Athens is appealing directly to British consumers.
Those with shots will be spared tests, with or without the EU’s blessing, tourism minister Harry Theocharis said in UK media interviews.
Tourism sustains a fifth of Greece’s workforce and economy, hit by a 76% drop in international arrivals last year.
Greece’s position, and similar Spanish assurances, contrast with the message from France, the second-ranked destination for Britons – which is in no hurry to welcome them back.
“Don’t come,” the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi advised potential overseas visitors last month as the city grappled with a faster-spreading Covid-19 variant first identified in Britain. “It’s not the time.”
As a result, airlines and tour operators are pushing “sun-and-sea” bookings to Spain, Greece and Portugal in a bid to bring in muchneeded cash.
“The trend now is towards what’s likely to be open,” said Toby Kelly, CEO of UK travel agency Trailfinders, pointing to a “massive pickup in demand” to Greek destinations.
“Greece has been the big story, with its government totally behind vaccine certificates.”