Travel news latest: Skiers must wear masks outdoors as Austria tightens Covid restrictions

The boss of self-catering giant Awaze has said demand for off-peak self-catering holidays in Britain spiked over the festive period. 

Simon Altham, group chief commercial officer of the holiday rental company, which includes brands such as cottages.com and Hoeseasons, says bookings surged between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve for holidays outside of the summer months. 

The company reported a 57 per cent increase in bookings for March during the period (compared to 2019) and an 11 per cent rise for holidays for the first three months of this year.

Mr Altham said:

Christmas and New Year are always great booking periods for us, but the clear difference this year is the increased demand for off-peak breaks, particularly between now and the end of March.

The stats show two things – one, that customers lucky enough to spend time with their nearest and dearest over Christmas were reminded of how good it is to get together… and two, that people who may have had their festive plans disrupted by Covid are booking early year staycations to make up for it instead.

Either way, the virus hasn’t dented the Great British public’s desire to get away, and that’s great news for our owners, partners in the trade, and anyone connected with the UK tourism economy.

All Covid tests for travel will disappear, Grant Shapps has suggested.

The Transport Secretary indicated that the final lateral flow swabs that fully jabbed holidaymakers still have to take on arrival in the UK will be axed, to allow test-free travel.

Sources suggested it would happen within “a reasonable time frame” as ministers sought to revive the travel industry after two years of on-off restrictions.

Grant Shapps said:

I could see a world in which you didn’t need to do testing at all. I can’t guarantee it will be the same the other way around because that depends on what other countries around the world decide to put in place.

I do imagine that we will, for the foreseeable future, be living in a world where vaccination status is something that countries are looking for. Certainly when I speak to a lot of my opposite numbers around the world, that’s what they ask about.

He stressed that the unvaccinated still faced pre-departure tests, 10-day quarantine and PCR swabs on days two and eight.

Read more, here. 

Regardless of their vaccination status, all travellers entering the UK must take a day 2 test. 

From 4am on January 9, this can be a lateral flow test instead of a more costly PCR test and the need to self-isolate until they receive a negative result has been scrapped 

Those who are not double jabbed still face a pre-departure test, 10-day quarantine sentence and two PCR tests. 

Here, we break down how day 2 tests work and what to look out for when booking one in the coming months.

Lazy days and carefree nights. The Caribbean is still balm for the soul, writes Mariella Frostrup.

She writes:

“These days, the Caribbean lies on the frontline of peril when it comes to global warming, but conversely, it relies on tourism for its economy. Continuing to visit and taking part in hands-on projects – such as reforesting coral reefs and protecting turtles – not only enriches your experience but also ensures that these tropical jewels, with their rich histories and coveted landscapes, are protected for both their inhabitants and future generations of travellers, who need to enjoy them in more sustainable ways.”

​Read the full feature here.

The French Government has voted to turn its health passport into a vaccine passport. This means that everyone must be fully vaccinated to legally use transport services and access public spaces, bars and restaurants. A negative Covid-19 result will no long bring access to these places and services.

People must remain fully vaccinated to keep the pass valid, meaning having up-to-date booster jabs. This will apply to residents as well as tourists, and is expected to come into effect from January 2022.

With the UK rolling back its omicron-related travel restrictions, the outlook for holidays in 2022 is looking much brighter. However, Britons are still banned from a number of countries almost two years after the onset of the pandemic. 

Prior to the emergence of the omicron variant, some countries on our list were open, on the cusp of welcoming back tourists, or had at least set out phased plans to do so. Sadly, most now have cold feet and much will depend on how omicron plays out across the world – or if a concerning new variant emerges. 

Still, there are positive signs. Israel, which closed its borders fully in November, announced yesterday that it would scrap its red list entirely and allow entry to British travellers, while Germany rescinded its travel ban earlier this week. 

Here we run though the key tourist destinations still largely off-limits and look at when they might reopen. We’ve assessed the chances for each based on government signals and previous approaches. 

Read the feature here.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has announced his desire to reach the ocean floor at Mariana Trench.

Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano spent twelve days at the International Space Station last month.

He said: “Going to space makes you even more fascinated about the Earth. You learn to appreciate how you feel the wind, smell things and experience the seasons.

“I thought: the Earth is amazing.”  

In space, Maezawa filmed a series of videos showing how to wash, brush teeth and urinate in space.

The 46-year old is due to take eight people on a 2023 mission around the moon on a SpaceX flight. But now he has also set his sights on the ocean depths.

“Not only to go to the Moon, not just to travel upwards but also downwards is another dream of mine,” he said.   “I am thinking about going down to the Mariana Trench, deep under the ocean.”

Travel holiday firms Teletext Holidays and Alpharooms have entered liquidation, in a move that could affect thousands of holidaymakers still waiting on refunds.

Truly Holdings, which owns both firms, has ceased trading. 

Outstanding holidays booked through Teletext Holidays will be honoured. However, accommodation bookings made through Alpharooms will not go ahead, and all customers will be contacted and offered a refund.

As the temperature drops across the Continent, the desire to reintroduce Covid-19 measures is hotting up amid a surge in omicron cases.

While the UK is sticking with Plan B (masks in most indoor settings and Covid passes for big events), this is not the case across Europe. In both Austria and Spain, masks have become mandatory outdoors. The Netherlands is still stuck in a national lockdown. France has closed its nightclubs and banned British tourists. Catalonia has introduced a curfew. 

Here we look at the Covid-19 entry restrictions and domestic rules in our favourite winter destinations across the Continent.

Read the feature here.

From luxury stays in Val Thorens to family holidays in Whistler, Lucy Aspden rounds up 40 of the best ski holidays this winter.

Read the article here.

Julie Wakley, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Great Britain, said: 

We’re delighted to be able to welcome travellers back to Ireland without the need for pre-departure testing for fully vaccinated visitors. Hassle-free travel within the Common Travel Area has resumed and fully vaccinated visitors from Great Britain will be able to travel between GB and Ireland with no testing or quarantine required.’

All visitors to Ireland must complete a Passenger Locator Form. Travel guidelines to Northern Ireland remain unchanged for visitors travelling from GB.

Is there anything more aspirational at this time of year than the après-ski look, writes Tamara Abraham?

It’s not just the cosy knits and sporty-chic down jackets, although they are appealing whether you enjoy hitting the slopes or not.

It’s cheeks rosy from the cold and the exhilaration of bouncing through a string of moguls, made rosier by a couple of post-slope glühweins, a nose ever-so-slightly bronzed by the sun. It’s the satisfaction of slipping on a pair of cloud-like shearling-lined boots after a day in rigid ski gear.

The most alluring thing about the après-ski aesthetic though, is that healthy and wealthy association with the sport, traditionally beloved by the upper classes, but today enjoyed by anyone with the disposable income to spend on a week of hurtling down mountains at speed.

Of course you don’t need a Coutts card to get this look (unless you have a penchant for Moncler, in which case it would help). Traditional skiwear brands – which will have had a tough 2021 – have spent the past year creating an offering that appeals both on and off the slopes. Fusalp and Moon Boot have both partnered with Chloé, while Celine, Balmain and Fendi have also broadened their offerings to include skiwear.

These are the looks that work both on and off the pistes.

Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Friday he had given shoot-to-kill orders to deal with further disturbances from those he called bandits and terrorists, adding that those who failed to surrender would be “destroyed.”

His comments came as Russian soldiers continued to be flown into the country to help deal with the worst violence in the Central Asian state’s 30 years of independence, with fresh gunfire being heard in the country’s largest city, Almaty. 

Up to 20,000 “bandits” had attacked Almaty and had been destroying state property, Mr Tokayev said in a televised address on Friday after a week when protests over fuel prices exploded into a countrywide wave of unrest.

Read the full report here.

With international travel rules relaxed once again, it’s time to book that big 3G family escape.

Fiona Duncan recently went on a holiday in Greece with her children and grandchildren, and explains how to make it a success

The wave of omicron infections engulfing France could reach its peak in around 10 days time, said Professor Alain Fischer, an official responsible for France’s vaccine strategy.

“I think we are coming to the peak of this new wave,” Fischer told LCI TV, adding that this peak could come “primarily towards the beginning of the second fortnight of January, so if we work it out this would be in around 10 days time.”

France reported 261,481 new coronavirus infections yesterday, less than the record of more than 332,000 set on Wednesday, but the seven-day moving average of new cases rose above 200,000 for the first time since the start of the health crisis.

The French health ministry also reported 204 new deaths, taking the total Covid death tally to over 125,000.

Canadian airlines are refusing to let a group of influencers fly home, after they posted a series of videos partying without masks on a chartered Sunwing flight.

The airline cancelled the group’s return flight, and no other airlines are willing to fly them home.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the issue on Wednesday, labelling the influencers as “idiots” and describing their videos a “slap in the face” at a time when hospitals are overrun with Covid-19 patients. 

In the video, the passengers are seen partying, dancing, vaping, and drinking vodka on the way to Cancun. The group is now stuck in the Mexico holiday resort town, seeking a way to get home.

Take part in today’s Twitter poll.

ABTA has revealed the top ten destinations that people hope to visit in 2022.

Top of the list is Spain, with 29.3% of respondents saying they plan to visit this year. In second place is the USA, where almost one in five (18%) say they plan to visit in 2022. 

France (17.8%), Italy (16.4%) and Greece (10.1%) round off the top five, while Australia (5.1%) and Canada (4.5%) have seen an increase in popularity – both up two places in eighth and ninth respectively.

Graeme Buck, Director of Communications at ABTA – The Travel Association said:

January is typically when people start to plan their holidays for the year ahead, so we’d encourage anyone who is thinking of booking a holiday to speak with an ABTA Member.

Whether they’re looking to visit one of these popular destinations or somewhere else entirely, our Members are experts at finding the best holiday for their customers – and at a competitive price.  

They’ll also be there to look after their customers every step of the way, from doing all the research to keeping them up-to-date with any restrictions or changes they need to be aware of, so they can book and travel with confidence.”

More than a dozen passengers who tested positive for Covid-19 on arriving in the Indian City of Amritsar have escaped institutional quarantine.

Some 125 out of 160 passengers were found to be positive on the chartered flight from Milan, which landed in India on Wednesday afternoon.

While nine escaped from the airport, four others reportedly ran away from a local hospital.

Police are working to cancel their passports.

“If they don’t return by morning, we will publish their photos in the newspaper and register cases against them,” Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Gurpreet Singh Khehra told NDTV.

Alaska Airlines will cut its schedule by 10% for the rest of January, as it faces an “unprecedented” number of employees calling in sick due to the surge of the omicron variant.

This follows a similar decision made by Jet Blue Airways, which last week cut 1,300 flights.

According to FlightAware, more than 2,100 US flights were cancelled yesterday on America’s east coast, equalling around 8% of the day’s total flights. It was the eleventh consecutive day that more than 1,000 flights have been cancelled in the USA.

Southwest is the hardest hit American airline – yesterday, it cancelled 650 flights, which amounts for 21% of its schedule.

Thailand will extend its travel restrictions after a surge in omicron cases, the Government’s Covid-19 taskforce confirmed on Friday.

New applications for Thailand’s ‘Test and Go’ quarantine waiver system will not be processed until further notice, said Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesperson for the taskforce.

Existing applicants can still enter without quarantine until January 15. The Thailand Government paused its ‘sandbox’ tourism schemes on December 22, with the exception of Phuket, where tourists can visit a specific resort for seven days without quarantine.

To slow the spread of omicron, alcohol consumption in restaurants will be halted at 9pm in eight provinces including Bangkok.

“Social drinking is the cause of the virus spread. Measures to restrict this will help curb the spread,” Mr Visanuyothin said.

As of 4am today, arrivals in the UK do not need to present a pre-departure test to enter the UK.

From 4am Sunday, arrivals will be able to take a cheaper lateral flow test rather than a PCR for their Day 2 test, and if fully vaccinated will not need to self isolate while awaiting the result.

Following the travel testing rule change, holiday companies have reported a spike in bookings – Jet2 reported a 150% increase 24 hours after the announcement.

A re-cap of yesterday’s top stories:

• Israel scraps travel ban on UK arrivals
• Holiday bookings boom as testing requirements are dropped
• More than 100 test positive for Covid on Italy-India flight
• Air New Zealand unveiled as world’s safest airline
• Gatwick divert flights after IT problem at air traffic control tower 
• PCR testing for travel remains on standby, says Grant Shapps ​

Now, on with today’s stories