‘Competitive reopening’ can’t come too soon

Simon Calder’s Travel Week [View in browser]( [The Independent]( [Travel] Simon Calder’s Travel Week [Simon Calder]( Written by Simon Calder | February 04, 2022 Two years into a wretched pandemic that has caused so much grief and shattered so many dreams, international travel should be getting easier. Instead, the red tape facing British travellers becomes ever more tangled. Covid rules across Europe have been changing almost as frequently as the personnel at 10 Downing Street, often for the worst. Consider the now-extinct nations of the [USSR](, the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia. Securing a visa to enter these communist strongholds was tough. But once you had jumped through the Cold War hoops, you could enjoy the people’s paradises more or less unfettered. In 2022, though, [France]( and [Italy]( demand tests as well as proof of jabs. And once through passport control your problems are only beginning. For everyday activities such as catching a bus or visiting a café or museum, both countries impose even more [demanding conditions](: strict rules for anyone aged 12 or over, with time limits on the validity of vaccinations. France has introduced an 'expiration date' on vaccine certification “The government is turning the screws on the unvaccinated, especially the young,” my man in Rome reports. Across Europe, tourism is regarded as important but not imperative. For ministers in Italy, France and many other nations, freedom to travel – to share streets and sunsets – takes a distant second place to persuading locals to be jabbed. But mingling measures to incentivise first vaccines and boost boosters among citizens makes travel absurdly complex and unappealing for foreigners. The most extreme, er, variant, is across the Atlantic: a five-year-old visitor to New York City needs proof of at least one jab to be allowed into McDonald’s. New York’s vaccine drive means five-year-old tourists need at least one jab to access fast-food restaurants Such policies may bring domestic benefits, but they have international costs. Travel creates long-lasting memories; journeys generate joy. But after two gruelling Covid years “February half-term 2022, the time we were turned away by [Spain,](” will never be a treasured family moment. Foreign travel remains the preserve of the bold and the desperate. Yet too many people and nations depend on tourism for the industry to close down. Within a month, I predict an almighty clatter: the sound of hurdles being hurriedly removed as governments cave in to pressure from their travel businesses. “Competitive reopening” will see countries racing to remove barriers as they seek to lure back British travellers for Easter and the summer. Which brave European nation will claim first-mover advantage? Destination of the week: Game of Thrones Studio Tour, Northern Ireland Walking with giants at the new Game of Thrones Studio Tour The journey to the Seven Kingdoms begins in the Six Counties: specifically in a car park in a vast out-of-town shopping centre east of Banbridge, County Down. After a short bus ride, fans of the HBO series can explore an interactive studio set at Northern Ireland's latest attraction: [the Game of Thrones Studio Tour](. “From the Night’s Watch at Castle Black you’ll follow the raven’s flight to Winterfell, the ancestral home of House Stark,” prospective visitors are told. Opens today; tickets £39.50. 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: £35 tickets are back on Eurostar - After two years in which Eurostar has suffered from a collapse in business almost unmatched in travel, the cross-Channel passenger rail firm is back with cheap promotional tickets. Buy by Tuesday 8 February and you could pick up a ticket from London to Paris, Lille or Brussels for just £35 (or €39) each way. Travel dates are 21 February to 19 May, though availability on key Easter and public holiday services is low. Amsterdam is excluded, but you could find a low fare to Brussels and buy a separate ticket from there. Travel voucher of the week [Voucher]( [Save £200 on summer holidays over £2000 using this TUI discount code]( Travel question of the week: Is Dubai safe? Q Should we travel to Dubai given the recent missile attacks? A Last month a series of missiles were aimed at Abu Dhabi, the city that is capital of the United Arab Emirates – and about 80 miles from Dubai. The latest attack, in which two incoming missiles were destroyed by the UAE military, came a week after a similar strike on Abu Dhabi in which three people were killed. Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they carried out the attack. This is not an altogether peaceful corner of the world. The Foreign Office warns: “Further attacks are likely.” But the FCDO stops short of advising against travel (though it did for a while last year when the UAE was seen as a Covid-19 hotspot). Flights continue as normal. Personally I would be happy to travel to Dubai, whether simply changing planes on Emirates or spending time in the city. 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