{"id":2572,"date":"2021-06-04T00:14:58","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T00:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelcommunication.net\/?p=27836"},"modified":"2021-06-04T00:14:58","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T00:14:58","slug":"uk-risks-isolation-if-keeping-doors-closed-to-international-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/global-travel-news\/uk-risks-isolation-if-keeping-doors-closed-to-international-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Risks Isolation if Keeping Doors Closed to international Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"UK<\/a> <\/div>\n

London, United Kingdom, June 4, 2021 \/ TRAVELINDEX \/ The UK risks becoming increasingly isolated if it continues to keep the doors closed to significant international travel, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Data shows forward bookings for international travel lag behind increased capacity by airlines gearing up for more \u2018green list\u2019 countries. WTTC calls for all fully vaccinated Brits to be able to travel freely to other countries with similar and higher vaccination levels as the UK. UK is losing its competitive edge created by the early vaccination rollout as Europe opens ahead of the UK, which continues its overcautious approach.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Read all the latest WTTC News and Updates here.<\/a><\/p>\n

The warning from WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, comes as figures reveal that forward bookings for international flights are lagging far behind the increased capacity generated by extra flights scheduled.<\/p>\n

Airlines have dramatically increased flights to popular holiday destinations \u2013 many of which are still on the government\u2019s \u2018amber list\u2019 \u2013 in anticipation of increased demand.<\/p>\n

According to travel data and analytics expert Cirium, in the two weeks following the start of the government\u2019s new traffic light system for travel on May 17, scheduled flights from the UK to Greece soared by over 2,000%, with a 435% rise in flights to Spain, compared to two weeks before.<\/p>\n

However, while airlines have been ramping up capacity, analysis of recent ticket sales by WTTC\u2019s knowledge partner ForwardKeys, shows this hasn\u2019t been matched by bookings.<\/p>\n

On average during the week of 14 May, airline ticket sales from the UK to Greece and Spain fell 37 per cent and 44 per cent respectively week on week.<\/p>\n

Data shows at the end of last month, there were more tickets being cancelled than new bookings being made, while British holidaymakers expressed disappointment over the UK government\u2019s green list and expensive testing and quarantine requirements for travel to \u2018amber\u2019 list countries.<\/p>\n

While ticket sales remain sluggish for the immediate future, indications are that there looks to be more positive news on the horizon with significantly more tickets recorded being sold for flights later this month and into July.<\/p>\n

But WTTC concerns over the lack of inbound travellers to the UK is causing as much damage to the UK\u2019s Travel & Tourism sector as has the collapse of outbound tourism to holiday hotspots around Europe and beyond.<\/p>\n

Virginia Messina, WTTC Senior Vice President, said: \u201cWTTC is calling upon the government to allow all those who are fully vaccinated, or can show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, to travel freely.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing many countries, particularly those in the EU, allowing travellers that have been vaccinated or can show a negative test result, which will provide a boost to their economies in such a pivotal time.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe should use our hard-earned competitive advantage from one of the world\u2019s best vaccine rollout programmes, with nearly 40% of the population now fully vaccinated, to restore mobility and reopen the doors to safe international travel.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTo do otherwise would squander the UK\u2019s incredible vaccine achievement and could mean the government\u2019s aspiration of a new era of \u2018Global Britain\u2019 following the Brexit vote would remain just that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK\u2019s Travel & Tourism sector was one of the hardest hit with its contribution to GDP falling 62% compared to the global average of 49%. However, we can save it and the millions of jobs which depend upon the sector if we act immediately and allow the safe return of international travel.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

WTTC has argued the UK should switch to a more risk-based approach and include more of those countries with a similar low infection rate, and with advanced vaccination rollouts, on the controversial \u2018green list\u2019. This should include the US, a move that could unlock transatlantic travel, which is critical to both economies.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Read all the latest WTTC News and Updates here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Many countries across the EU such as Spain and Italy are capitalising on the UK\u2019s incredible vaccine rollout by announcing they are opening their doors to British travellers. However, whilst these countries remain on the UK\u2019s \u2018amber list\u2019, holidays to these destinations will be unaffordable for many, due to the high cost of the PCR tests needed by Brits when arriving back in the UK.<\/p>\n

The global tourism body has long advocated that a combination of vaccines, testing, digital health passes and health and safety protocols, can safely unlock international travel.<\/p>\n

The 2021 Economic Impact Report (EIR) recently released by WTTC highlighted the UK\u2019s fall from fifth to eighth place among the world\u2019s biggest Travel & Tourism markets in 2020, after suffering a punishing 62.5% collapse in the sector\u2019s contribution towards the country\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n

First published at TravelCommunication.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

London, United Kingdom, June 4, 2021 \/ TRAVELINDEX \/ The UK risks becoming increasingly isolated if it continues to keep the doors closed to significant international travel, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Data shows forward bookings for international travel lag behind increased capacity by airlines gearing up for more \u2018green list\u2019 countries. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4241,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[541,88,52,43,89,542,37,520,111,45,46,44,14,543,48,59,544,153,47],"class_list":["post-2572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-travel-news","tag-borders-closed","tag-covid-19","tag-featured","tag-global-travel-news","tag-healthtravelplanner-com","tag-isolation","tag-news","tag-pandemic","tag-travel-and-tourism-foundation","tag-travel-communication","tag-travel-index","tag-travel-news-hub","tag-travelindex","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unwtp-news","tag-updates","tag-viriginia-messina","tag-wttc","tag-wttc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}