Brits face getaway misery with attractions shut and a ban on travel
Millions left in limbo over summer holidays: Brits face getaway misery with attractions shut and a ban on foreign travel – while others don’t know if trips they’ve booked will go ahead
- Britain faces a £45billion black hole in tourism spending due to coronavirus
- Hotels, campsites and holiday parks are shut, along with a foreign travel ban
- Tourism lobby group UK Hospitality pleads for clarity about reopening plans
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Britain faces summer holiday misery with attractions shut, a ban on foreign travel and a £45billion black hole in tourism spending.
Millions will be unable to take a break while others are in limbo over whether trips they have booked will go ahead.
Hotels, campsites, B&Bs and holiday parks are shut and many fear summer holidays are effectively cancelled.
The Government was last night accused of causing chaos for families desperate to plan a break and tourism businesses on the brink.
Britain faces summer holiday misery with attractions shut, a ban on foreign travel and a £45billion black hole in tourism spending. Britain’s biggest airport, Heathrow, has seen a major fall in passenger numbers since lockdown began
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps came under fire after saying he would ‘not be booking a summer holiday’ while chief medical officer Chris Whitty warned ‘highly disruptive’ social distancing controls could run until 2021.
MP Graham Stringer, a former member of the Commons transport committee, said families and tourism needed ‘certainty’ about when and where we can go on holiday again.
He said: ‘The Government needs a plan.’
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps came under fire after saying he would ‘not be booking a summer holiday’
Tourism lobby group UK Hospitality pleaded for clarity about when holiday businesses could reopen, saying: ‘It is absolutely vital that we save the summer.’
And Visit Britain boss Patricia Yates warned some attractions will now not open until next year amid the confusion. She said: ‘Cash flows have completely dried up.’
The Foreign Office imposed a ban on all but essential international travel on March 17 but this is now extended indefinitely.
As a result, Gatwick warned yesterday that it could take up to four years for passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels. Britain’s shutdown announced on March 23 means all hotels, hostels, B&Bs and campsites were closed immediately and there is no indication when they will reopen.
Analysis by Visit Britain predicts a loss of £22.1billion in domestic tourism spending in 2020 compared with last year.
The figures suggest a collapse of foreign visitors will cut tourism spending by up to another £22.3billion in a worst-case scenario.
Fay Jones, who runs a small B&B in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, predicted the entire season could be a ‘devastating write-off’.
‘It could mean finding another job,’ she said. Meanwhile, some customers who have made holiday bookings have had problems getting refunds.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: ‘If you had booked a package holiday – where any two parts of the holiday were booked together – the law says you are due a refund within 14 days so don’t be fobbed off with credit or the chance to postpone, if this isn’t what you want.’
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