‘2021 is likely to hold the same pattern for travel and tourism, and it would be better to reconcile with the fact now and plan accordingly’
Alan Arrigo
With measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 having so far resulted in some 39,000 job losses within the UK’s travel industry alone, it was reported earlier today that the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has warned that the situation has reached a “critical point”, appealing for further support through a package of measures targeted at the travel industry.
Reacting to this, Director at Robert Arrigo & Sons Alan Arrigo, who is also Vice Chairperson of the Tourism Section within The Malta Chamber and Treasurer of the Federated Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (FATTA), affirms that the situation in the UK and most of Europe is quite similar, as the onset of the second wave of the pandemic coincides with planned easing of government measures.
“Trade associations like the UK’s ABTA and Malta’s FATTA have been calling on their respective governments to renew the support measures beyond September, possibly well into the first quarter of 2021,” he reveals, maintaining that many tour operators overseas (including long standing established firms) have been forced to cease trading throughout the pandemic and unfortunately, Mr Arrigo predicts, “the likelihood is that further players in the travel and tourism industry would have to take the decision to cease trading”.
Despite this, he continues, in so far as Malta is concerned, the biggest impact on the incoming tourism market is the result of nations such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands (among others) that have introduced quarantine measures for returning tourists.
“Naturally, such measures would have a large impact on incoming tourism, especially on key source markets, with the UK being the largest source market for Malta, which would account for the majority of flights entering Malta and consequently tourist arrivals,” the Robert Arrigo & Sons Director warns, adding that once local cases are controlled, we would see another restart, which will also depend on the situations the source countries are facing at that time.
“Realistically, 2021 is likely to hold the same pattern for travel and tourism, and it would be better to reconcile with the fact now and plan accordingly,” he posits.
This article was written by Sarah Micallef and originally appeared in WhosWho.mt.