JOE Karbo is COO of UK-based Moresand Group, one of the country’s largest independently owned travel businesses.
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A big Hello! to my travel colleagues in Australia, hope you’re all keeping well. It’s been a while.
Last time I was in Oz was Mar 2020 for the Force For Good event in Sydney on International Women’s Day organised by Helene Taylor.
All the COVID talk back then was regarding China, Italy & Iran, no need for concern etc — how things changed so quickly thereafter!
I’m writing here from London as the UK officially opens its borders next week for travel with the new Green, Amber, Red light system.
After enduring a tough four month continuous lockdown, the news has given fresh hope for our beleaguered travel industry.
On a personal note, last year I was fortunate enough to have travelled to five countries from London (Portugal, Spain, Greece, Armenia & Cuba) for both work & leisure purposes, navigating within the Foreign Office regulations of movement, getting tested pre & post travel both in the UK & abroad (all negative results!)
With both tests costing about 25, I remember arriving at both Varadero airport in Cuba & Yerevan in Armenia and getting tested at the airport with the results sent to your hotel the next morning.
Also, whilst in Athens I had to cut my trip short to avoid a 14 day home quarantine with a change in foreign office policy mid stay. On the edge stuff!
So I can personally vouch that a control testing system for travel can work, even wearing a mask on long haul for nine hours from London to Cuba.
Over the past six months there’s been a definitive shift and focus on border control & testing.
Also the vaccination rollout has been successful with over 32 million having the first jab and 16 million with the second thus far.
There is genuinely a feeling of optimism here especially with summer approaching.
Not surprisingly there’s a lot of opinions on the merits of borders closures and vaccinations. Seems consistent on most issues these days, it’s usually a 50/50 split. So whatever I say will be probably be agreed and disagreed with.
All I can comment on, is that for our beloved travel industry we need HOPE to survive.
Maybe this new travel colour scheme in UK may offer some hope if successful.
I say hope, because when politicians make ‘off the cuff’ statements on opening borders you immediately see the knock on effect on consumer confidence & hence bookings.
I mentioned bookings as without any forwards, we don’t have a business and future.
There is also an anticipation here, that once a UK/US travel corridor opens up (speculated in Jul) it will go a long way to restoring much needed sustained confidence in travel.
As a business, what’s kept us going for the past 15 months is servicing/amending our existing clients and locking in booking forwards.
Within the Moresand Group there’s over 10 travel brands, so keeping staff focused & positive has been the goal throughout.
Because the UK throughout the pandemic hadn’t completely shut off all flights and borders, it’s enabled some trading to take place.
In addition, many businesses are still utilising the government furlough scheme which is still in force until Sep 2021.
The first stage of the pandemic was to keep it under control and not adversely affect society by spreading & causing death.
You can only commend Australia for containing the virus and allowing society to function to a near to normal as possible.
The next challenge for Oz will be opening up borders. It’s a tricky one with each country and their governments reacting differently.
However, it’s evident a tough stance on borders means better chances on re-election, as has been the case with recent state elections.
There needs to be a detailed national roadmap on opening borders in Australia, instead of the loosely applied rhetoric of being “closed indefinitely”.
“Loose lips sink ships” is a phrase that comes to mind.
We all know once you’re in a role of responsibility, your words & actions have ramifications.
I can only put it down to poor leadership by some in prominent positions.
Even if a date was set say on 01 Feb 2022, based on certain criteria being met, this will provide hope and surety.
Back in Jan 2021 the UK government set specific domestic targets to achieve by May 2021 in slowly restricting lockdowns & opening borders.
This provided clarity to plan & deliver.
By the way, this is not an Ashes series between England and Australia on who’s better or worse, I’m just sharing my experience as an Aussie in the UK.
D K Lillie — say no more…
Let’s just hope the Green, Amber, Red system is successful, so hopefully it can be applied in Australia soon.
Please be safe, remain positive and don’t give up the fight.
