Yesterday (May 11, 2020), Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that all travellers arriving in the UK will be quarantined for 14 days.
In his address to the nation this evening Mr Johnson said that in order to prevent re-infection from abroad he was “serving notice”.
However, Rajeev Shaunak, Head of Travel and Tourism at accountancy firm MHA MacIntyre Hudson, stated today that the newly announced inbound quarantine measures could cost package holiday operators up to £5 billion this year.
Matt Crate, Managing Director of WeSwap, the UK’s largest P2P travel money provider, commented on the announcement: “This period is the travel industry’s busiest time usually, but the COVID-19 crisis has brought the entire sector to a standstill.
“However, as businesses looked towards the light at the end of the tunnel in the Prime Minister’s speech, the amount of money the new measures could cost may potentially be crippling.
“As we look to regaining some normality, businesses, especially in the travel arena and those with seasonal business models, must have more support from the government. These new measures will help keep people safe and the industry has tried to do all it can to protect the safety of our staff and our customers, but the government also needs to protect the businesses on the frontline.”
