How vaccinated travelers became hot property

(CNN) – The headlines from “Ilha da Peste” spread across the front pages said it all.

With its out-of-control infection and death rates exceeding 125,000, the UK began 2021 as Europe’s Covid outcast.

Now, however, after a vaccination program that saw more than a third of all adults receive at least one dose, European countries and tour operators who have struggled in the past 12 months are surrendering to receiving tired Britons for a dose of the summer sun.

Harry Theoharis, Greece’s Minister of Tourism, said at the ITB Turismo virtual conference this week that the country would welcome anyone who had been vaccinated, could prove they had antibodies or present a negative PCR test.

Declaring, “All you want is Greece,” his passionate appeal sparked a race for tourists’ unspent money, which authorities across the Mediterranean hope to boost struggling communities that lost millions last year.

Spain, which attracted more than 18 million British travelers in 2019, and Portugal also said they are looking forward to the British flying as soon as it is safe.

It is clear that there is also a market. ABTA, a UK travel trade association, says 63% of Britons expect to book holidays abroad in 2021.

There is only one petty problem. It remains illegal to leave the UK for a holiday. This week, the country’s transport minister, Grant Shapps, warned that it is still too early to book a trip abroad.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set May 17 as the fastest possible date on which international travel will be allowed.

Building traveler confidence

This does not seem to be preventing European countries and tour operators from doing everything to attract visitors or tourists to make reservations.

Thomas Cook said he saw a 25% increase in searches on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus after his announcement about plans for vaccinated travelers.

From fully flexible booking offers to tourism officials who release Covid’s declining numbers, there is an undeniable effort to motivate tourists to make reservations as soon as possible.

For Luís Araújo, president of tousim body VisitPortugal, it is definitely not too early for holidays.

“They should book immediately,” he said, when asked if potential tourists should wait before booking summer holidays.

“We need to build the confidence of tour operators and travel agents. If we don’t have that proactive reaction in terms of booking or requesting travel, it will all take longer to recover … What we need now is mobility.

“And we need it now because every day that passes is a day that we miss.”

More than 25,000 people received training in 2020, with another 12,000 already being trained this year, he says.

With a rapidly falling infection rate, dropping to 83.2 per 100,000, Araujo is keen to point out that Portugal is going through the worst and will soon be ready to welcome tourists back.

But it’s not just vaccinated visitors. Araujo wants anyone who can prove that he is free from Covid, either with a negative test or proof that he has antibodies or has a vaccine, to visit Portugal.

“The change has to be about considering countries ‘dangerous’ to look at people and people’s risk,” he says.

“It is controlling the pandemic while allowing people to enter the country. It is not just a country for those who are vaccinated.

“It is important to consider that people, even from high-risk countries, can enter if they have proof that they are not contaminated.”

Covid’s clearest credentials

Araujo makes a point of stressing that Portugal does not compete with other European countries for vaccinated tourists.

Instead, there needs to be cooperation across the European Union to provide standardized safety rules to start traveling safely again.

“I think the competition is to build trust and put airplanes in the air,” he says. “It is not a matter of discussing whether we have five more tourists than Greece or ten less than Spain.”

Operators are also making their Covid security credentials clearer as international travel approaches.

“We have a team dedicated to ensuring that our suppliers of accommodation, bicycles and taxis comply with all applicable Covid rules and have adequate security measures in place, such as improved room cleaning between stays and physical distance,” he said. Simon Wrench of Inntravel, an operator that offers walking and cycling holidays in Cyprus, Spain and Slovenia.

Greece, in turn, is prioritizing vaccines for residents of 40 small islands with populations of 1,000 or less, including Haiki, Kastellorizo ​​and Meganisi, before vaccinating people on popular tourist islands like Mykonos and Crete.

The goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible who work in the tourism industry, making them safer for them and for visitors in the process.

“We believe that the latest announcement by the tourism minister about welcoming Greece to British tourists from mid-May and the protocols needed to travel to Greece will help boost consumer confidence ahead of the summer season,” he said. Dimos Stasinopoulos, CEO of the Epoque Collection, which has properties in Santorini and Athens.

“We will be introducing a series of security measures at OMMA Santorini when it opens in May and will offer flexible cancellation policies to put our guests’ minds at peace.

“OMMA Santorini’s security measures include temperature checks, safety kits in each room, frequent cleaning protocols in accordance with WHO standards and disinfected key cards.”

Israel Green Pass

And it’s not just the British who are being courted by tourist spots across southern Europe.

Israel has the most successful vaccine program in the world, with 4.8 million of its 9 million people fully vaccinated with two doses and 80% having at least one vaccine.

“For such a small country, almost everyone travels by plane, so for them in particular it is difficult to be” stuck, “said Andrea Bertoli, executive vice president of the lm group.

“In echoes similar to what is happening in the UK as the vaccination program accelerates, the conversation [in Israel] it’s been about opening the heavens.

“In fact, in Israel, it’s probably one of the main aspects of the Covid-19 discussions since infection rates started to drop.”

The country has signed travel deals with Cyprus and Greece, but plans to introduce strict rules amid concerns about importing more contagious variants of Covid-19.

Bertoli explains that travelers will need the so-called “green passport” proving that they have been vaccinated, not being able to travel until 10 days after the second dose.

Israel’s high levels of vaccination also mean it is ripe to attract visitors looking for a safe haven for Covid.

“The successful implementation of vaccination in Israel has given hope for the return of international tourism,” said Sharon E. Bershadsky, director of the Government of Israel’s Tourism Office in the United Kingdom.

“This is allowing the industry to plan for the return of tourists in the not-too-distant future – making Israel not only an attractive destination, but a healthy one.”

Bershadsky is optimistic that tourists can return “soon”. And with its vaccination program almost complete, it could mean that the country is enjoying a tourist boom while others are trying to catch up.

Too early to book

Although councils and tour operators make every effort to prove that they can safely host visitors, the fact is that leisure travel will not be possible for at least a few weeks.

While that may change, booking now is a big risk, according to Rory Boland, travel editor for the consumer website which.co.uk.

“Our advice is that it is too early to make a reservation,” he says. “You don’t know where you can go or when you can go, and reservations at the moment leave you exposed to financial risk.”

Boland also points out that stories about rising demand do not tell the whole story.

“Some of the headlines you’ve seen from a 500% increase in bookings are very low original numbers,” he says

“Yes, there is a group of people, mainly older people, who feel more confident about booking holidays abroad for countries that are making noise about the permission for vaccinated people to enter. There are still many risks associated with that.”

Boland highlights the fact that, as well as the UK government’s much-ridiculed travel corridor policy in 2020, destinations could end up on the “red list” while tourists are on the beach or by the pool.

This may mean having to quarantine in a self-managed facility, something that would not be covered by insurance.

In addition, there is the additional cost of Covid testing, which will likely be needed three or five times on a trip, depending on the destination. Currently, a PCR test costs about £ 100 ($ 139), which will quickly increase if you are a family of four.

Green corridors

“We are calling on travel agencies to speak up,” adds Boland. “You can’t just keep promising that flexibility will cover you in every eventuality, because you won’t, not now.”

Although it may be too early to make a reservation, vaccinations seem to be the surest way for the trip to start over safely.

“We are really optimistic that a green corridor agreement between individual countries, if not a common green passport, will be accepted across Europe and the UK,” said Andrea Bertoli.

“While it is not exactly a turbo boost for tourism, it does mean that we can certainly put the key in the ignition.”

While a unified vaccine passport is unlikely to be approved soon, there is no denying that those who can prove they are immune to Covid are likely to boost the travel industry for the rest of 2021 and also in 2022.

The race for reserves has begun.