“It’s important to remember that many of these people who are overseas in these destinations would be visiting friends and family for the first time in over two years – and now they have to make the heart-breaking decision to return home early,” says Advantage Travel Partnership.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO at Advantage Travel Partnership said: “Black Friday has taken on a whole new meaning today in the travel industry. Yet again, an entire industry is informed of drastic changes to travel restrictions by a late-night tweet from government, leaving travel agents scrambling to repatriate their customers in these southern African countries and cancel and rebook those who had planned to travel over the festive period.
“It’s important to remember that many of these people who are overseas in these destinations would be visiting friends and family for the first time in over two years – and now they have to make the heart-breaking decision to return home early. Not only that, but there is only a very small window for passengers to try and make it home in time to avoid the inhumane hotel quarantine and a hefty bill to go with it – why can’t this be replaced with home self-isolation and appropriate testing instead?
“Some may argue that it’s only a small number of countries that have been added to the red list, but it’s the knock-on effect to consumer confidence to book other destinations that is deeply concerning for the travel industry. This sudden change only demonstrates the urgent need for the International Travel Policy Review which is due in January. We simply cannot operate our businesses with this level of uncertainty hanging over us for the foreseeable future.”
