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Finally, there is certainty about travel. Well, something like that. In some way. Or at least a little less uncertainty. Or is there?
If yesterday’s brief announcement on Ireland’s Green List and confirmation of the government’s intention to opt for a proposed ‘traffic light’ system across Europe for safe travel confused you: welcome to the twilight zone where the tourists and almost anyone who works in tourism or aviation has been living for months.
This is what we know. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said Ireland will “broadly support” the European Commission’s color-coded system for a common approach to travel. According to weekly updates, “green” countries will have fewer than 25 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 in a 14-day period; ‘Orange’ less than 50 cases; ‘Red’ more than 50.
The proposal will not be adopted until at least October 13, but in the meantime, Ireland’s Green List will be removed from the shelf where it has been gathering dust since August 4 and will be updated more or less by this method.
As I write, that means Germany, Poland, and Cyprus are in, while Greece, Italy, Hungary, and Slovakia are out, for now. The list will be updated weekly and given the way cases have been moving around the world lately, it won’t make it easier for tourists to book, or for those in the tourism and travel sector to plan ahead. the next few weeks, regardless of next year.
This is what we don’t know. What will happen between now and mid-October? A week is a long time in politics, but an eternity in a pandemic. Who else will participate in the EC system? (It is not binding). Will Ireland reliably update its list this time?
Will TDs and public health experts be on board or will they keep saying they’d rather we stay on the island?
And what happened to that test and trace system that we were told was specifically being discussed for travel?
The travel industry knows that a can is thrown on the road when it sees it. Ryanair condemned “further delays and indecisions.”
Pat Dawson, executive director of the Irish Travel Agents Association, said the government had given its troubled industry another month of stress. The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation said the measures, “while an improvement, will do little to benefit the Irish tourism industry.”
Travel is fueled by certainty, be it sunny vacations or arriving tourists. Instead, we have had chaos for months. That’s primarily due to the pandemic, of course, but has been exacerbated by the spaghetti of rules and restrictions issued by individual countries, the speed at which they change, and the mixed messages and inaction of Ireland.
Moving towards the ‘traffic lights’ at least points some direction, but some general lines in a six-month plan don’t go far enough. The industry wants specific details on supports and tests now.
In that at least, we have clarity.
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