The UK announced a compulsory 14 days of quarantine for anyone who enters the UK borders from June 8th. After this announcement, a group of leading travel companies sent a letter to the home secretary, Priti Patel, requesting an immediate withdrawal of this rule.
The UK travel industry us urging authorities to reconsider
In the letter, the signatories argue: “The very last thing the travel industry needs is a mandatory quarantine imposed on all arriving passengers which will deter foreign visitors from coming here, deter UK visitors from traveling abroad and, most likely, cause other countries to impose reciprocal quarantine requirements on British visitors, as France has already announced.”
More than 70 chairwomen, chief executives, and managing directors have confirmed the letter on behalf of their companies, which altogether employ of thousands people in the UK.
The companies include Abercrombie & Kent, Rocco Forte Hotels, Der Touristik, Mr & Mrs Smith, Red Savannah, &Beyond, Kirker Holidays, Scott Dunn, Black Tomato, the Peninsula London, Claridges, the Berkeley, the Goring, Mandarin Oriental, Rosewood Hotels, the Savoy, the Ritz London, the Dorchester, Hotel Café Royal, Jumeirah Carlton Tower, the Landmark Hotel, Hyatt Regency London – the Churchill, Shangri-La the Shard Hotel, Original Travel, Cookson Adventures, Cazenove & Loyd and ATD Travel Services.
The letter continues: “Many people urged the government to impose quarantine regulations during the early phases of Covid-19. Instead, no action was taken and flights from infected countries were allowed to land, disgorging thousands of potentially affected passengers into the wider community. Covid-19 is now under control and we commend the government for its handling of what was an extraordinary and unprecedented situation.However, the economic cost of the government’s action is yet to be seen, apart from the early indicators which paint a grim picture.”
The World Travel & Tourism says, the travel industry contributes US$8.9 trillion in global GDP and employs 330 million of people. In the country, almost four million of people or 11% of the entire workforce work under the tourism sector. In 2019, the sector contributed around £200 billion or 9% of total GDP for the UK economy.
An inquiry of the outbound sector by Tourism Alliance reveals that the direct economic impact of travel – the money made from specific travel services, like flights, and package holidays is £32 billion.
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