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Next summer, the resumption of the activity of national travel agencies is already expected with some ‘normality’, which includes taking Portuguese abroad or bringing foreign tourists to the country, according to virologist Pedro Simas in a web session promoted by the Portuguese Association. of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT).
At a time when travel agents struggle with many uncertainties regarding the resumption of tourist activity and to be able to organize their summer hours, Pedro Simas arrived to give a note of “hope” to the sector.
“When the first phase of the national vaccination plan ends, at the end of April, if all goes well, we will be able to return to normality,” said the virologist from the Institute of Molecular Medicine. Asked by Pedro Costa Ferreira, president of APAVT, about whether, for example, tourist buses will be able to circulate in the country from May or June at full capacity, and not at two thirds, the specialist reiterated that this is the most likely scenario. . .
“After the first phase of the national vaccination plan, everything will be different,” Pedro Simas stressed, adding that, in May, June and July, we are expected to have “a more normal life, with museums or gyms open, and if everything it’s going well there is a high probability that the summer will be even better ”.
As the virologist underlined, “the main priority is to have 100% of the risk groups vaccinated, and in Portugal people in the dwellings have already been vaccinated. If there was another vacancy, the dwellings are already protected, they have already been built a wall “. and it would be different from the third wave. “
Vaccination certificates for travel “will be temporary, will last a few months”
The current focus for travel agents is on the digital passport that is being considered at the European level, demonstrating that travelers have ensured some protection against the virus, either because they have been vaccinated, gained antibodies because they have already been infected or presented proof. negative. . According to the virologist, these certificates are a good solution in the short term: “I think they will have a short life, because the problem will disappear quickly,” he anticipated.
“This is going to be temporary, it will last a few months. The tourism industry, and the airline industry, will have to take this initiative of digital certificates to be able to anticipate the resumption of tourist activity ”, explained Pedro Simas. to travel agents.
Especially since the situation of having to present proof of vaccines for certain destinations is not new. “To travel we do not need a certificate of vaccines for the flu or for the other coronaviruses that have become endemic,” recalls Pedro Simas, underlining: “we have used vaccination bulletins in the past, and this was done for the common good, not in a discriminatory sense “.
“The problem with the pandemic is that we have people who go to hospitals and die,” summarized the virologist. “This is going to be a progression. When we stop having people hospitalized for covid-19, life will return to ‘normal’. This happened in Israel and the United Kingdom, the countries that are more advanced in terms of vaccination plans. “.
With the second phase of the vaccination plan planned for Portugal, there “it will be different, and we will have 90% of the problem solved,” the expert stressed. “When we have protected risk groups, we can tolerate community transmission that can even be very high. This is what happened with other coronaviruses that have become endemic, every two or three years we get these viruses, it can be colder, boring, but it is normal life, and it even stimulates our immune system “, highlighted Pedro Simas .
It is necessary “extreme care in the sense of wearing the masks and complying with all the rules”
In the summer of 2022, will the covid saga continue for travel agents to organize their schedules? To the question of the president of APAVT, Pedro Simas anticipated that in the summer of next year “everything will be resolved and life in Europe will be normal, without masks or alcohol-gel.” But he stressed that until then it is necessary “great care in the sense of wearing the masks and complying with all the rules, only after this can we remove the masks.”
“When we reach 60% or 70% of people who are immune, the virus stops being pandemic and becomes endemic,” summarizes the virologist. Asked by Pedro Costa Ferreira about when congresses or large summer festivals could be held, Pedro Simas said that “group immunity will be important to be able to hold events, or at an early stage say that only a certain congress can enter people with a vaccination certificate “.
“Until the virus stops being a pandemic, it is not known. Science says that if there are no deaths, there are no problems. First we must solve the problem, see what happens and be careful. And also look at what Israel and the UK do. , the countries that are leading the vaccination plan ”, advises the expert.
The health situation of the destinations where travel agents are organizing ‘charters’ for next summer, as is the case of Cape Verde – and the fact that travelers, despite being vaccinated, may be carriers of the virus during the vacations, was another of the questions raised by the president of APAVT to Pedro Simas. “There is a possibility that this will happen and it is important that all the countries of the world vaccinate the groups at risk, otherwise this danger exists”, considered the virologist. The certificates will help to offer a great degree of protection when traveling and, although this possibility exists, I believe that it will not be a problem ”.
For travel agents, it was good news to hear from Pedro Simas that ‘normality’ is determined by vaccination, which encourages them to organize holiday programs, since Portugal expects to have risk groups vaccinated before the summer, and It seems that the country will succeed. group immunity before the end of the year, which even allows you to organize congresses with participants without a mask.
“We are going to return to work, we are going to start thinking about selling tourism, because the moments of recovery are going to be very challenging,” concluded the president of the association of travel agencies.
