Quarantine Move Must Be First Step In Travel Sector Fight - Cortes

TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has given a "belated welcome" to moves by the Government to reduce quarantine time by more than half for people arriving in England from abroad. 

 As of 15 December those coming into England can reduce quarantine - if they pay for a Covid test after five days. The move was announced by the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, with the tests costing up to £120. 

Commenting, Cortes said, “This announcement will be given a belated welcome by our union and our wider travel trade but moves to help the sector could have taken place months ago. 

“However, this measure places a further financial burden on people wishing to travel abroad which means poorer households are unlikely to benefit from it. The government needs to find a solution which is free and effective, if confidence within our travel industry is to be fully restored. 

“We have told Ministers time and again that our travel sector has been all but ignored during this pandemic, so any positive news will rightly be heralded. 

“Our union fully understands the need to boost international travel; we have watched in horror as travel agents up and down the country have gone to the wall in the past few months, without sector specific support in place. 

“Let this be a first step in helping our travel trade which faces an existential crisis and has tough months ahead as we continue to fight this terrible virus. If Ministers are at long last waking up to that reality then I welcome them to the fight.”