Travel agents 'surprised' foreign holidays returning so soon

Confirmation that Ireland is set to embrace a return to international travel from next month has been welcomed by travel agents.

Key dates 

June 2 

• Hotels, B&Bs, hostels and self-catering accommodation can reopen

July 19 

• International travel can resume (subject to public health situation at the time) Ireland will start operating the EU Digital Covid Certificate for travel within the EU and EEA 
• No restrictions on travel to or from the North

Confirmation that Ireland is set to embrace a return to international travel from next month has been welcomed by travel agents, though others have struck a more cautionary tone.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has formally announced Ireland’s adoption of the EU Green Cert vaccination passport strategy from July 19, enabling non-essential international travel within the Union for those in possession of the cert.

The Irish Association of Travel Agents chief executive Pat Dawson professed himself “very pleased” at the pending announcement, saying he is “surprised it’s happening earlier, we hadn’t expected it until August”.

“It’s very positive news, but we’ll have to wait and see what kind of baggage it arrives with, what the terms and conditions are,” Mr Dawson said.

“The traffic light system (introduced late last year) didn’t work at all, it was all over the place and very confused. So long as there is a clear path to travel with no hitches in the terms and conditions it’ll be good for everybody concerned.” 

Support payments

Asked whether the news will serve to bring his members back from the brink, Mr Dawson said: “It’ll certainly help.” He added, however, that he hopes for Government support payments for travel agents who “have had no trading for 17 months” will continue until the end of the year.

Such travel agents would have been covered by the Covid Restrictions Support Scheme, a support put in place to give businesses affected by Covid a percentage of their average weekly turnover from pre-pandemic times.

“We need sector-specific help,” Mr Dawson said. “We get paid after the event. If people are booking quickly then fine, otherwise we want the payments to continue. It’s 2022 we’re planning for really. It will be slow to take off but hopefully we’ll get there.” 

The Irish Hotels Federation meanwhile said that a reintroduction of travel would “send a very clear signal that Ireland is reopening tourism when it is safe to travel”.

“The domestic market was very important last year and will be again this year,” Tim Fenn, the IHF’s chief executive said, but added that Irish custom “does not replace international visitor numbers”.

He said that over 70% of tourism revenue pre-Covid came from overseas, while easing travel restrictions will “be very important in extending the season” for Irish tourism businesses” while maximising occupancy in areas like Dublin which “lag the rest of the country”.

Budget airline Ryanair, one of the ongoing travel restrictions' harshest critics, meanwhile “condemned” the news that restrictions on UK travel would also remain in place until July 19, with no phased early re-opening for British routes.

Indian variant

Transport minister Eamon Ryan earlier acknowledged that the common travel area restrictions are to remain in place due to ongoing Covid fears over the Indian variant, cases of which have doubled in the UK in recent days.

“The Indian variant is as prevalent in Northern Ireland as it is in the UK, yet the Northern Ireland border remains wide open,” the airline said in a statement.

“There is no scientific advice that allows UK citizens unrestricted access to Ireland across the Northern Ireland border, yet treats exactly the same UK citizens differently if they travel to Ireland by ferry or plane,” it said, while calling for the CTA restrictions to be lifted on June 1.

“The Government cannot hide behind its bogus science or false claims about the Indian ‘scariant’,” a spokesperson for the airline said.

Meanwhile, Evan Cullen, president of the Irish Airline Pilots Association (IALPA), said that while he “accepts” that the Government has earmarked July 19 for a return to international travel, despite his organisation lobbying for that date to be July 1 (the date the Green Cert becomes operational within the EU), IALPA is still waiting on an official response to its other requests of Government regarding the reopening of travel.

Those other three points were a call for the reopening of the CTA, reopening of travel from the US for the fully-vaccinated, and full recognition for the efficacy of rapid antigen testing for the virus.

“It’s a relief that we have a plan in place, and the uncertainty has been reduced,” he said. “Because up until now we had nothing.”