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Shapps says people can start thinking about booking international holidays

Started by Fambo Number Mive, April 09, 2021, 06:53:24 PM

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Fambo Number Mive

Quote...He told the BBC: "This is the first time I'm able to come on and say I'm not advising against booking foreign holidays.

"Yes, you'll want to check what the situation is in two or three weeks' time when that list - the green, amber, red, is produced - you'll want to know that you've got good holiday insurance and flexible flights and the rest of it.

"But for the first time I think there is light at the end of the tunnel and we'll be able to restart international travel, including cruises by the way, in a safe and secure way, knowing about the vaccinations, everything we know about the disease this year, and of course that abundance of caution - having the tests in place."...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56682226

Still quite early isn't it? I know international travel won't resume until 17th May at the earliest but I wouldn't feel comfortable travelling internationally. The potential for bringing back a variant is very high.

I note the traffic light system planned - hotel quarantine only for countries on the red list, no self-isolation for countries on the green list. And a pre-departure test - at what point? Before you go to the airport?

Most people want to get lockdowns over and done with but I am concerned that these plans to restart international travel are not strict enough and are too early on in the global vaccination drive. I also wonder if people with friends and family abroad should have priority over people who just want a holiday (not that holidays aren't important), although I don't know how this would work.

It's ludicrous. International tourism should be way, way down the list of priorities.

JamesTC


Shoulders?-Stomach!

The situation in Europe is on average far worse than here right now. More case, fewer vaccinated. If there are holidays they will have to be prison like on compounds people aren't allowed off. My idea of hell but millions choose that anyway.

mothman

We're going to Greece. Well, we hope we are. We won't be, obviously, if there is any risk to ourselves or to others. But it's a quiet corner of the Peloponnese, not touristy at all, we've been going there for years. We get our own villa, our own pool. We know people there, they've been keeping in touch and local infection rates have been low. Don't need to go near anyone for two weeks apart from in the supermarket. Only potential crunch point is the flights. If it happens, then great; if not, sure we'll be gutted, but there are plenty others far worse off than us, we can't (and won't) complain. The government flailing around on red/green country ists, test requirements, even (heaven forbid) quarantining, is annoying but par for the course and in line with how they've mishandled everything else so far.

jobotic

Can't afford it. Couldn't before Covid, won't after. Thanks though Grant.

flotemysost

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on April 10, 2021, 10:17:17 AM
The situation in Europe is on average far worse than here right now. More case, fewer vaccinated. If there are holidays they will have to be prison like on compounds people aren't allowed off. My idea of hell but millions choose that anyway.

Yeah, I guess a lot of it depends on what the appeal of travel is for the individual - I'm the same, when I go somewhere new I want to explore, try out different bars and restaurants, talk to random people and generally get stuck in. And I'd most likely be travelling with friends (who I don't live with). Realistically I know that type of thing won't be safe for a long while yet, so I'm OK to stay put.

However if you live with a partner/family unit and they're who you're going to be travelling with, and you're all happy to just be chilling in a contained environment rather than charging around sightseeing, then I can understand it feels easier to justify - certainly last summer, it was interesting seeing which of my colleagues did take a foreign holiday over the summer, it was only the older (and richer) married staff with children (and I can definitely see the appeal of a holiday if you have young children, though obviously not everyone with young children can actually afford it). And being able to work from home means they could work while isolating on their return, which obviously just isn't an option for many.

Travel is of course a luxury anyway and also we probably shouldn't be encouraging people to fly in general, but I can definitely see this becoming yet another post-COVID demographic divide (even more so than it was already) over the next few years.

Fambo Number Mive

I can just see opening up international travel meaning people bring back variants, meaning local lockdowns and door to door testing in areas. And when this happens Tory supporters will be shouting "they couldn't have know this would happen, Captain Hindsight". Well, like so many mistakes the Government made, they were warned at the time.

flotemysost

Yeah, it seems mad looking back at how easy it was to book foreign holidays for a while last year - I remember my flatmate breezily saying one day in June/July, "I might go to Spain tomorrow, flights are only £30" - err yeah, I wonder why they're so cheap? She was on furlough at the time so quarantining wouldn't have been an issue, and to be fair she was probably bored out of her mind, stuck in a tiny flat with me locked in my room working all day.

Not justifying the risk, and she didn't go in the end, but I can imagine there must have been loads of people in a similar position who thought "fuck it, I deserve a break".

mothman

Quote from: flotemysost on April 10, 2021, 11:27:39 AM
Yeah, I guess a lot of it depends on what the appeal of travel is for the individual - I'm the same, when I go somewhere new I want to explore, try out different bars and restaurants, talk to random people and generally get stuck in. And I'd most likely be travelling with friends (who I don't live with). Realistically I know that type of thing won't be safe for a long while yet, so I'm OK to stay put.

However if you live with a partner/family unit and they're who you're going to be travelling with, and you're all happy to just be chilling in a contained environment rather than charging around sightseeing, then I can understand it feels easier to justify - certainly last summer, it was interesting seeing which of my colleagues did take a foreign holiday over the summer, it was only the older (and richer) married staff with children (and I can definitely see the appeal of a holiday if you have young children, though obviously not everyone with young children can actually afford it). And being able to work from home means they could work while isolating on their return, which obviously just isn't an option for many.

Travel is of course a luxury anyway and also we probably shouldn't be encouraging people to fly in general, but I can definitely see this becoming yet another post-COVID demographic divide (even more so than it was already) over the next few years.

I do like a city break. And I miss them. But I can just count my blessings and do without them for (ever?) the foreseeable future.

We don't go out much normally so save money that way, which we then put towards our big family holiday. I and our youngest are on the spectrum, we don't like crowds so a quiet secluded holiday isn't just a luxury, it's an essential (in as much as foreign holidays can ever be considered an essential going forward). We didn't have a holiday booked last year, we were focussing our attentions on the spring/summer building work which we were going to be doing (but didn't, and are having now instead, and it's fucking freezing having no roof right now let me tell you). I'll admit that once it was plain the build was to be delayed, we had a Peter's Mad Thoughts five minutes where we then debated going to Greece instead - even got as far as checking availability and pricing - but we just couldn't justify it, and fucking loathe the cunts who did, launching us into the second and then third waves.

And for the future? Things have to change, absolutely. And I hate that it looks like travel will once again become the sole province of the Right Sort, the fucking klept. I've been all over the world, to live, to work, to explore. I don't want to be stuck on this poxy little island full of racist morons for the rest of my life. If we can't or shouldn't fly, that doesn't leave us much. Especially with the government seemingly prepared to let Eurostar go bust if it keeps Johnny Foreigner out and stop the lower orders - us - from "moving around needlessly."

Drygate

Nice of him to tell us what we can be thinking about.

Although if you've had the vax, what's the issue with going abroad?

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteYeah, it seems mad looking back at how easy it was to book foreign holidays for a while last year

During June, July, August, September most of Europe opened up just with mask wearing without it resulting in an explosion of cases let alone hospitalisations or deaths, there wasn't anything wrong with booking holidays regardless of 'ease'.

Seasonality, at least in Europe, seems like it has a strong influence.

mothman

Quote from: Drygate on April 10, 2021, 01:03:47 PM
Although if you've had the vax, what's the issue with going abroad?
There are still questions about the vaccines' efficacy, and their effectiveness against all the new variants of the virus. And - to use my example - sure I and my wife will have been fully vaccinated by then (one hopes) but our kids won't. And that's another strand to the pisspoor messaging they're putting out: that you'll be fine to travel if you HAVE been vaccinated; but what if you CAN'T be vaccinated (yet)?

BlodwynPig

Quote from: Drygate on April 10, 2021, 01:03:47 PM
Nice of him to tell us what we can be thinking about.

Although if you've had the vax, what's the issue with going abroad?

If you were the last person on earth I could see your point.

Ferris

Voluntary tourism for shits and giggles seems a bit mad, but I can absolutely understand wanting to travel to see family once the offending parties are all vaccinated etc.

Is Shappsy Baby recommending all heading to Magaluf with the ladz, or the latter more boring option? I note he said "foreign holiday" vs "justifiable travel" so suspect the former.

Fambo Number Mive

Heathrow is already facing queues of several hours with around 10-15,000 people arriving at the airport each day.

It seems a terrible idea to allow international travel for those who don't have friends and family abroad, though I'm not sure how you would police this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56743571

Shoulders?-Stomach!

It seems self-defeating given that more time spent in a congested space is likely to encourage transmission. The biggest pseudoscience bullshit of the lot has come from airports and airlines claiming how safe they are.

Based on the system so far, I would not travel abroad even if the case load vanished overnight as that is far too much hassle for what it's worth.

olliebean

The first and last time I will travel abroad will be if and when I finally decide to get out of this stinking shithole of a country for good. Probably some time after 2024, if the Tories win again. (Or if Labour wins and turns out to be no better.)

WhoMe

Shapps does sort of sound like a travel agents. For peace of mind, book your package holiday with Shapps.

Shapps.


Ferris


wooders1978

I've got a week off booked in October - I'm definitely considering Greece or Cyprus if I can get away with it.

Blinder Data

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on April 10, 2021, 01:58:02 PM
During June, July, August, September most of Europe opened up just with mask wearing without it resulting in an explosion of cases let alone hospitalisations or deaths, there wasn't anything wrong with booking holidays regardless of 'ease'.

Can this be said for certain? The impact might not have been immediate but I remember reading a cautionary article from Prof. Devi Sridhar in August 2020 about our rush for foreign holidays: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/opinion/coronavirus-europe-vacation.html

Searching for that article revealed some more recent articles:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-55919040
https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-news-from-LSE/2021/d-April-21/2020-summer-holiday-period-fuelled-a-second-wave-of-COVID-19-infections-in-Germany

We can hope for the best, but increasing international travel, especially with other countries at different levels of vaccination and the UK government's shambolic response, will inevitably increase cases. Personally I think we will have some sort of autumn/winter lockdown this year.

In any case, I'm not planning on going abroad until 2022 at least, so SHAME on all you selfish travellers! (My position on holidaying is unrelated to having a baby recently.)