Holidaymakers play the waiting game over Covid

Sunseekers hoping to spend a few days on faraway shores in the New Year are playing a Covid waiting game, according to one of Galway’s to leading travel agents.

Maura Fahy, Managing Director of Fahy Travel in Galway City, said for the moment, it appeared as though antigen and/or PCR testing required to travel to many destinations were only in place until the end of January – but there remained a lot of unknowns.

However, there was still a huge desire among Irish holidaymakers to travel abroad, despite what has been two years of turmoil for the industry.

“To be honest, we were delighted with the business we saw from July and once people saw others travelling, they followed and we had big numbers travelling in October and November – we were very busy and I think that was a great indication that people will certainly continue to travel.

“Irish people are very resilient and we’ve had a lot of people in picking up brochures so we know the desire is still there,” said Ms Fahy.

Cruises were one area hit hard by Covid-19, with many of the first headline-grabbing outbreaks taking place on board cruise liners.

Ms Fahy said regular cruisers were returning to book but said industry figures were hoping that the situation would improve early this year to reassure those who were more hesitant in all areas of travel.

“Hopefully we will get a bit of a lift in January because like every business, we have been badly affected,” she said.

Meanwhile, a suite of measures has been announced by government to support travel agents and tour operators – in recognition of the impact the pandemic has had across the sector.

Galway West TD and Minister for State at the Department of Transport, Hildegarde Naughton, announced that €10 million would be made available to assist the sector in its recovery, and said it had ‘suffered significant ongoing disruption’ during the pandemic.

“The sector which comprises of mostly small and family-run businesses has remained open throughout the crisis in support of its customer bases. While various horizontal Government business supports have assisted this sector, I am pleased to have secured this targeted funding for the sector which has a strong affiliation and is a reliable source of bookings and revenue for airlines.

“The trade generated via licensed outbound travel agents and tour operators is a factor in generating demand for air service connectivity between Ireland and overseas markets,” said Minister Naughton.

Ms Fahy said any support from government was welcome. Travel agents had been hit hard and this was the first targeted scheme for the industry, she added.

“It is badly needed. Our figures are nothing like they were in 2019 and it will take a year or more to get back to that level.

“We would be delighted to see any support to see us through the next few months. With travel agents, none of us see any money until people actually go on their holidays, so if people cannot travel, we don’t make anything,” said Ms Fahy.

The next five months would be tough for the industry, she said, but the indications were good in that people do want to travel.

“The way it is at the moment, Ireland has a higher rate of Covid than most places people are going, so in actual fact it can be safer there than it is here,” said Ms Fahy.