The travel industry must remain “cognisant” and “agile” this summer as changes to travel protocols “keep coming”, the chief executive of The Travel Corporation has predicted.
Brett Tollman said governments around the world would continue to adjust Covid regulations over the “next 90 to 120 days” due to the pandemic, creating a situation that was “very messy and uncertain”.
Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, he said: “What you thought you knew yesterday to tell a customer is probably going to be different tomorrow.
“We all just need to stay very much up to date on that, so we’re providing the right information.
“I think it will get easier, but the next 120 days are going to be very messy and uncertain.”
To help agents booking trips with TTC brands – including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises – an online tool called Sherpa has been added to the operators’ websites.
Sherpa provides agents and customers with the latest information on subjects such as testing requirements for different countries.
Looking at specific areas where he anticipates change, Tollman cited pre-departure Covid testing requirements.
He said: “More of them [countries] are going to be moving to the home antigen tests as they have become more much accurate and you can do it within 24 hours, so that’s going to change very quickly, I believe, in the next 90 days.”
Illustrating how protocols could be adapted, Tollman also noted how restrictive social distancing guidelines had been changed in “most” US national parks following consultations between TTC and the country’s Department of Homeland Security and Department of the Interior.
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