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Finally, there is certainty about travel.
ell something like that. In some way. Or at least a little less uncertainty.
A Taoiseach confirmed today that Ireland plans to opt for the ‘traffic light’ proposed by the European Commission for safer travel, sometime in mid-October.
Ireland will “broadly support” the proposal, which uses a red, orange and green color coding system and which Micheál Martin says has “credibility in terms of public health that has been lacking at the pan-European level.”
The much-criticized ‘green list’ will now be updated weekly as an interim measure, based on similar criteria.
This is what we know so far.
When will the ‘green list’ be updated?
Over the next month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will update Ireland’s “green list” weekly on Thursdays, and the changes will take effect the following Monday.
The first update number for this Thursday, which will go into effect on September 21.
Based largely on the EC’s proposed ‘stoplight’ system, it will include countries with a 14-day cumulative rate of 25 Covid-19 cases or less per 100,000, as mapped by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. (ECDC).
Travelers from Ireland visiting these countries will be advised to take ‘normal precautions’ and will not have to restrict their movements upon return.
What countries will be included?
According to the An Taoiseach Department, if the list were updated now, the ‘Normal Precautions’ travel advisory would apply only to the following European locations:
- Latvia
- Cyprus
- Finland
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Germany
- Estonia
- Bulgaria
- Norway
- Sweden
- Greenland
Greece (28.9), Hungary (71.8), Italy (32.4) and Slovakia (30.5) are likely to be removed from the current list, while tips to avoid ‘non-essential travel’ ‘will continue for all countries not on the DFA list.
So can we book a vacation?
In theory, yes, only for the ‘green list’ countries.
However, as we have seen, a week is a lifetime in a pandemic. The incidences could change in the next week (especially in Ireland), which means that countries could go back and forth quickly from the list … although sources say that the DFA will monitor if the load of cases is trending up already down, and will try to avoid it when as much disruption as possible.
This is one of the fundamental problems that travel and tourism face: how can people plan their trips or make reservations in the future, when the load of cases continues around the world?
When will the EC “traffic light” system start?
Probably mid-October. The European Commission’s “traffic light” system is a proposal, and An Taoiseach said he expects it to be finalized “around October 13,” at a meeting of the General Affairs Council.
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What do red, amber and green indicate?
The EC’s ‘stoplight’ proposal aims to eliminate the mess of individual member state restrictions, providing a joint approach that everyone can understand.
This would be based on a weekly color-coded incidence map updated by the ECDC, based on the number of new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in a 14-day period, as well as the percentage of positive results.
- Red: More than 50 cases per 100,000
- Orange: Less of 50 per 100,000
- Green: Less than 25 per 100,000
As we publish, Ireland’s 14-day moving average is currently 48.5 cases per 100,000.
Will the restrictions be based on entire countries or regions?
That remains to be seen. It might make sense to rank the Canary and Balearic Islands separately to ‘Spain’, for example, and England has moved onto the list of islands individually.
But for now, we just don’t know.
What about travel outside the EU?
For now, the government advises against all non-essential travel (including cruises) to all countries except those on the ‘green list’, advising ‘normal precautions’.
What is the reaction of the travel industry?
“These measures, while an improvement, will do little to benefit Ireland’s tourism industry,” says Eoghan O’Mara Walsh of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC).
ITIC is calling for more clarity, that the government open the airways as a priority, and that a comprehensive travel testing regime be adopted (that was not mentioned today, even though it was discussed last week).
Ryanair condemned today’s announcement as “further delays and indecisions.”
The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) expressed disappointment and stated that nothing has changed for the Irish travel industry.
“We were disappointed to learn that there will be no further updates until October 13,” said CEO Pat Dawson.
“We believe the Government is simply postponing the results and putting the Irish travel industry on the long finger, which will lead to another month full of stress and uncertainty for our member travel agents.”
Rob Rankin, President of the Inbound Tour Operators Association (ITOA), added:
“More details on how and when the system will be implemented in Ireland need to be released immediately to assure tourism businesses and international visitors that Ireland is open to the public in 2021.
“Another year without international tourism will result in a loss of more than € 5 billion to the economy, in addition to the loss of thousands of rural jobs.”
What is the take away food?
Travel thrives on certainty, whether it’s sunny vacations or arriving tourists.
Instead, we have had chaos for months. That’s due to the pandemic, of course, but also to the spaghetti of rules and restrictions issued by individual countries, and the speed at which they change.
The EC’s ‘traffic light’ system aims to curb the confusion, coordinating decisions and giving free travel and the tourism business (which provides one in ten jobs across the continent) a fresh start.
For Irish holidaymakers and tourism businesses, today’s announcement at least provides a sense of direction, away from the confusing ‘green list’ and towards that common system.
However, the ‘Plan for Living with Covid-19’ is frustratingly light on travel details, does not mention testing or quarantines, and it remains to be seen if Ireland reliably updates its travel advice (something it has not been able to do with the ‘green list’ from August 4), as well as if public health experts and DTs continue to send contradictory messages: on the one hand, give the green light to limited travel; on the other, advise against all non-essential trips.
In addition to this, the fact that the number of cases is changing so rapidly means that it can still be difficult for people to plan their vacations or trips abroad, even under the “traffic light” system.
Clarity will take a long time to come. But a common system of “traffic lights” is at least a start.
Sign up for our free travel newsletter!
Do you like what you are reading? Subscribe to ‘Travel Insider’, our free travel newsletter written by award-winning travel publisher, Pól Ó Conghaile.
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