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Barrhead boss calls for roadmap for reopening international travel

Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson called for the UK and Scottish governments to lay-out a detailed roadmap to recovery for reopening international travel.

She was reacting to the introduction of Covid testing for inbound travellers from Saturday.

“We fully appreciate why these measures have been taken – public health, of course, must come first,” the Scottish agency chain boss said. 

“However, the UK government and its devolved administrations must confirm a timeline for these strict measures which do not replace current quarantine requirements.

“These strict measures, which will make travel virtually impossible, must only be temporary and only running as an emergency measure in tandem with the full national lockdown.” 

The governments must set out plans for “practical and affordable” airport testing to work towards removing the need for quarantine.

“Testing affordability will be crucial for the leisure market to begin to make any form of recovery this year,” Dobson added.

“The UK and Scottish governments must now take steps to engage in meaningful conversations with industry leaders over these next few weeks in order to agree on a plan that can permit the gradual restart of international travel and allow the travel industry to recover.

“These conversations are crucial for the government to understand firstly, what support is required by our industry and secondly, to gauge what information and advice must be made available to support customers for future travel. 

“In addition, there must also be a common approach within the UK for all travel guidance moving forward; it is impractical for the four nations to continue to make separate decisions and issue disjointed guidance – this would further hamper recovery for both inbound and outbound travel.”

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