French President presses self-destruct button on tourism with British ban

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( [Travel] Simon Calder’s Travel Week [Simon Calder]( Written by Simon Calder | December 17, 2021 A year’s worth of travel news in a week? No, in just three days. First, the incoherence at the heart of the UK government’s travel strategy was exposed when the [latest incarnation of the red list came to a chaotic end](. Last weekend Whitehall sources started leaking the prospect of an end to mandatory self-isolation for arrivals from 11 African nations. That prospect begged the obvious question, which I duly posed to government: will people who are already in hotel quarantine be “sprung” once the pointlessness of trying to protect the British people from foreign variants ends? No reply. By Tuesday afternoon, when the health secretary, Sajid Javid, belatedly told MPs that [the red list would be emptied by 4am on Wednesday](, it became clear from his responses that no one in government had actually considered the question. A junior minister was sent back to Parliament with a belated message that yes, they would be able to leave ahead of time. Chalk bored: a slogan in the car park of a quarantine hotel where red list arrivals were allowed to exercise By dawn on Wednesday morning it was clear that the legal niceties were dragging on. Around 5,000 people who had collectively paid almost £10m to be incarcerated in quarantine hotels for 11 nights were desperate to leave. [“I’ve had nine walk out on me so far,” a friendly security officer at a Gatwick quarantine hotel told me]( as he leaned against the wall of a latter-day Colditz with his cigarette. He had warned the escapees that he was obliged to report them, and that they faced a £10,000 fine. “The police aren’t interested,” he told me. Finally, [at 4pm, the paperwork was complete and the exodus began](. As buses lined up to take them to Heathrow – where their red list nightmare had begun – I listened to the inmates’ stories. Most had been in South Africa, reuniting with much-missed loved ones, when they learnt their freedom would be sacrificed to [“keep us all safe” from the omicron variant](. To a man and a woman, they were either on the verge of tears or openly weeping. They talked about their passion for travel having been extinguished, smothered by a set of rules that they imagined were to punish them for the temerity of visiting family – or feeling simply like unwitting pawns in a game in which ministers set out to look tough, for no purpose beyond political advantage. Piste? Off. The French Alps at Morzine And the week's drama didn't end there. “Hold my pastis,” said Emanuel Macron to Boris Johnson, as he upped the stakes in the festive “which European leader can inflict maximum damage on their tourism industry and the travel hopes and dreams of humanity?” competition. While other nations were imposing tighter testing rules as a proportionate response to the spread of omicron, [the French president decided to go nuclear](. [All family visits, holidays and business trips for British travellers are off until further notice](. Only a “compelling reason” is permitted for travel from the UK to France – with the bar for compassionate exemptions set painfully high at for the death or terminal prognosis of a close relative. From families kept apart at the one time of the year when they could and should be close, to those who have lost much-needed escapes to mountains, beaches and cities, the short-term harm is profound. Looking ahead to 2022, the prospect of further knee-jerk intolerance of pi, rho, sigma and all variants to omega serves to destroy faith in the industry of human happiness. Destination of the week: Newquay Surfing at Newquay. Cosmic Christmas yoga is also available If you have had to forsake a trip to Brittany, at least Cornwall is more accessible from this week. The London air link has been re-established by Eastern Airways, with a daily connection from Gatwick to Newquay. Air fares are typically £85 each way, including checked baggage – comparable with rail fares, partly due to the absence of Air Passenger Duty: Gatwick-Newquay is what’s called a “public service obligation” route. Get there by Wednesday 22 December and you can take part in “Cosmic Christmas Yoga” in the village of Porthtowan, southwest of Newquay. Don’t miss my daily travel podcast [Green List Travel]( For all the latest travel tips, advice and news analysis, listen to ‘Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast’ – available from Monday to Friday for free on [Spotify](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Pocket Casts]( or [Acast](. Deal of the week: first class rail for less “We need those trains as empty as possible,” said Dr Nikki Kahani, medical director of primary care at NHS England, at Wednesday’s Downing Street briefing. The Rail Delivery Group does not agree, saying: “Train companies are continuing to help people to travel with confidence by keeping up enhanced cleaning, by ensuring trains are well ventilated with eight out of 10 carriages having systems that refresh the air every six to nine minutes, and by improving information about how busy trains are so that people can avoid the busiest times.” For more personal space, you could opt for first class – in which case Seatfrog is the cheapest way to do it. You bid in advance for a bigger, more comfortable seat, and if you judge it right you can enjoy all the first class frills for a fraction of the normal price. I have used Seatfrog three times on LNER East Coast main line trains: twice, successfully with winning bids of £12 and £15, and once unsuccessfully due to excessive thrift. Travel voucher of the week [Voucher]( [Extra 10% off for Black Friday with our Viator promo code]( Travel question of the week: summer vacances? Q I very much want to go on holiday in France next July. Do you think the travel ban for UK tourists will be lifted by the summer? A If travel to our nearest Continental neighbour is still banned seven months from now, heaven help us all. I expect the travel ban to be lifted very early in the new year, or possibly even before the end of 2021 (though I have been chronically over-optimistic throughout the Covid pandemic). While I am not yet a buyer of a French holiday in July 2022, I am certainly dreaming and planning. I suggest you do the same. Stories you might like [France to ban non-essential UK travel as Covid omicron cases surge]( [France to ban non-essential UK travel as Covid omicron cases surge]( [Grant Shapps’ department admits staff held party during lockdown curbs]( Grant Shapps’ department admits staff held party during lockdown curbs]( More stories [Travel expert Simon Calder to answer your latest questions live]( Travel expert Simon Calder to answer your latest questions live]( [‘Now is not the time to travel’, Canada’s health minister warns residents]( ‘Now is not the time to travel’, Canada’s health minister warns residents]( Other newsletters you might like [Brexit and Beyond] Brexit and Beyond Every Thurday, 7am (UK time) Written by Adam Forrest [Join now >]( [Voices Dispatches] Voices Dispatches Every Saturday, 7am (UK time) Written by Victoria Richards [Join now >]( Let me know your thoughts on Twitter [@SimonCalder](. If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. 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