Following the news that France, Malta, the Netherlands, Gibraltar, Monaco, the Faroe Islands, Aruba and the Turks & Caicos will be added to the UK’s quarantine list;

Ben Cordwell, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view on the government’s latest announcement:

“The latest government announcement has the potential to effectively end the British holiday season. According to GlobalData, 31.6 million tourists from the UK made their way to Spain and France, in 2019, highlighting the importance of the British source market to the Spanish and French tourism industries. An announcement like this during the peak season will be disastrous for all of the countries on the list, as well as for businesses in Britain selling holidays to these destinations.

“According to GlobalData’s latest consumer survey results, 79% of UK respondents are still concerned about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It would be unsurprising if this latest announcement meant that many holidaymakers decided not to travel abroad at all.

“The UK is also the fourth highest spending source market worldwide, meaning the quarantine extension will be devastating for airlines, travel agents and hoteliers alike. This latest announcement on top of what has already been an extremely tough year for the tourism industry, could see many companies struggling to survive the coming winter months.”