More than 70 travel company bosses have signed a letter to Home Secretary Priti Patel calling for the planned 14-day quarantine for arrivals to the UK to be scrapped. The letter argues that the measure would deter foreign visitors, discourage UK residents from travelling abroad, and risk reciprocal quarantine rules from other countries, as France has already announced.
The signatories, including heads of the Ritz, Dorchester, and Hyatt Regency London hotels, accuse the government of being “woefully slow” to support the travel industry. They urge a shift in focus from containing the coronavirus to reviving the economy, noting that the tourism and travel sector accounts for nearly 4 million jobs, or 11% of the UK workforce.
The letter criticises the government for failing to impose quarantine earlier during the pandemic, when flights from infected countries continued to land. It states that while Covid-19 is now under control, the economic cost of government action is yet to be fully seen, with early indicators painting a grim picture.
Separately, Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ owner International Airlines Group, has criticised the quarantine plan. In a letter to Boris Johnson and MPs, Walsh said BA is not expected to return to 2019 business levels until 2023-24, with flights down 94% in April and May. He also accused unions of trying to “intimidate” BA over planned redundancies of 12,000 jobs.
The quarantine measures are due to come into force on 8 June.
