Green list changes pointless says travel association

ireland
Green List Changes Pointless Says Travel Association
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Changes to the green list have been described as pointless by the Irish Travel Agents Association.

On Tuesday, the Government announced that it would be removing Cyprus, Malta, Gibraltar, Monaco and San Marino from the list, but the association believes there was no need for this, as people are not booking flights either way.

The green list was originally published on July 23rd, naming 15 countries that people could travel to Ireland from without the need to self-isolate for two weeks.

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The make-up of the green list will be reconsidered every two weeks, with the Government deciding to shorten the list on this occasion due to rising rate of Covid-19 in some European countries.

The Government also announced on Tuesday that pubs which do not serve food will not reopen as planned on August 10th due to concerns expressed by NPHET regarding the increasing level of cases being reported here in Ireland.

Although there are ten countries remaining on the green list, the association says consumer confidence has never been as low, with most customers opting to wait until 2021.

Association president, Michael Doorley says they are expecting a very quiet end to 2020.

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"The level of business is minimal, nearly non-existent, and changing the green list countries isn't going to generate any new business for travel agents, so the announcement doesn't materially affect the level of business that we are going to do.

"Consumer confidence in travel is at the lowest ebb ever and our surveys would suggest consumers are putting off travel arrangements until next year."

The Government's approach to travel is also being criticised for being out of step with other European countries.

Travel journalist, Eoghan Corry says the rest of the EU are warning against travel to specific regions, not countries.

"The European approach has been to treat the 27 [EU countries] as a unit and treat them as regions. So, you will have a warning in France saying do not go to Catalonia."

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