Tui pushes back holiday restart plans to 10 July due to quarantine
Holiday firm Tui announced today that it would cancel all beach holidays for British tourists up to 10 July due to uncertainty over the government’s quarantine rules.
The tour operator had previously planned to restart its holidays at the beginning of July, but said that the requirement for all travellers to England to quarantine for 14 days would deter holidaymakers.
In a statement, Tui said: “With so much uncertainty around when travel will be able to recommence, customers due to travel before the end of August have the opportunity to amend their holiday for free”.
Travel firms have been among the businesses worst hit by the coronavirus crisis, and the government’s new measures have met with widespread dismay from the sector.
Last month Tui warned that 8,000 jobs were at risk due to the crisis, as it sought to reduce its overheads by 30 per cent.
A group of 500 hospitality and travel operators has said it has received assurances from senior officials that air bridges to low-risk countries will be in place by the end of the month.
Boris Johnson has himself confirmed that the government is looking into the travel corridors solution as a way of helping kickstart the economy.
A government spokesman said: “We are exploring a range of options to increase travel, underpinned by what the evidence shows is safe, including examining how international travel corridors could safely open up routes.”
The backlash against the policy has yet to let up since restrictions were put in place on Monday this week, with the UK’s biggest airlines launching legal action against the rules.
Rivals British Airways, Easyjet and Ryanair have come together in opposition to the plan and written to the government regarding their intent to challenge the measures.
Despite the coronavirus, Tui has insisted that demand for holidays remains strong.
UK bookings for the winter 2020/21 season are up eight per cent and summer bookings for next year are “looking positive on small volumes”.