The parent company of Travel Weekly and The Caterer has urged industry leaders to lobby the Government over its “devastating” quarantine plans.
A letter was sent to home secretary Priti Patel on Thursday morning with an initial 70 signatories from the travel and hospitality sectors.
More: MPs add pressures on government over 14-day quarantine plans
However, campaign leader George Morgan-Grenville, chief executive of tour operator Red Savannah, said the response had been so positive that he planned to send a second letter to show the level of concern within the industry.
Clive Jacobs, chairman of Travel Weekly owner Jacobs Media Group, said: “The government’s quarantine plans are the final straw for the travel and hospitality sectors that are already reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is imperative that the prime minister and government recognise the crippling effect that such measures will have and we need the leaders of industry to stand up and make this absolutely clear.”
Morgan-Grenville said: “We have been overwhelmed by the initial response to our first letter and we urge the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors to endorse its contents via our follow-up letter to Whitehall because it is essential these quarantine rules are withdrawn.”
The government confirmed details of the quarantine restrictions, to apply to overseas visitors and travellers returning to the UK from June 8, at the end of last week.
In Thursday’s letter, the signatories said: “The UK travel industry is currently severely challenged… The government has been woefully slow to react and procrastinated to the point of absurdity in terms of providing support for or ruling against the concept of Refund Credit Notes.
“The last thing the travel industry needs is a mandatory quarantine imposed on all arriving passengers which will deter foreign visitors from coming here, deter UK visitors from travelling abroad and… cause other countries to impose reciprocal quarantine requirements on British visitors.”
France has already threatened retaliatory restrictions on UK visitors.
The letter added: “The people of this country do not wish to be prevented from travelling… it is time to switch the emphasis to economic recovery before it is too late.
“We urge the home secretary to abandon the concept of mandatory quarantine.”
If you work in the travel and hospitality sector, lend your support to the second letter by emailing Getgoing@redsavannah.com