The crisis that Guadeloupe and Martinique are going through and the threat of the new variant of Covid-19 Omicron are “a double penalty” for tourism professionals.
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“The situation is not comfortable, for our sector and for travelers”, said Valérie Boned, general secretary of Travel Companies, the union of travel agencies, Monday February 29 on franceinfo, while the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 is arriving in Europe. “Things have started to get seriously strained for a fortnight and the arrival of the 5th wave”, she added, recalling that “tour operators have been dealing with this fluctuating situation for almost 18 months”. Several countries, including France, recently decided to close their borders to travelers from southern Africa where this new strain was first detected, while other countries – such as Israel and Japan – have done so. choice to be closed to all foreign nationals.
“Since September and October, we had resumed an encouraging rate of reservations”, said Valérie Boned, affirming that “confidence had returned”. But according to the Secretary General of Travel Companies, cancellations have already been recorded among reservations “say winter” which are traditionally long-haul destinations. “It started with the West Indies”, she lamented, evoking “a double penalty” tied “low vaccination rate” and “to social movements” in progress in Guadeloupe and Martinique. “We have achieved a total shutdown of reservations on these destinations, so we are very upset about this situation”, she regretted.
She also deplored the “extremely radical policies” from Japan and Israel who have decided to close their borders to all foreign visitors. In addition, travelers who were in Morocco were “brought back” in France, after the decision Sunday, November 28 of the Moroccan authorities to suspend all direct passenger flights to Morocco for a period of two weeks from this Monday, detailed Valérie Boned.
However, she recalled that “Covid insurance policies are in place to allow reimbursement of customers”, symbol of a sector that “fits” to this health crisis “and who is rather responsive”.