ATTA® WELCOMES CHANGING TRAFFIC LIGHTS AND TESTING

ATTA® (African Travel and Tourism Association) has wholeheartedly welcomed the changes to the UK Governments traffic light system today along with the reduction in testing requirements.
 
Nigel Vere Nicoll, ATTA® President commented: “We have been lobbying hard together with our industry partners to open up African destinations to the UK market and it’s good to know we have finally been heard for Kenya at least, although I urge the Kenya government to immediately remove quarantine restrictions so that tourists from UK can enter Kenya without further hinderance. Those in our 60 strong UK tour operator membership selling experiences in Africa must be sighing with relief as we head towards the precipice of 30 September and the end of furlough.”
 
ATTA® Director, Kate Kenward explained: “Our research shows us that there is a lot of pent-up demand for consumer travel to Africa.  However, tailormade bookings take time to process so it could be months before our members see meaningful cashflow coming into their businesses.  Many members are on a knife edge with their businesses and we hope they will be able to recoup 20 months of lost ground as quickly as possible. The research also shows the key barriers to travel are quarantine and testing so hopefully some consumer confidence will return after this announcement.”
 
Nigel Vere Nicoll continued: “These changes should be the catalyst for other red listed countries in Africa to make the transition very soon and we will not give up lobbying on their behalf.  While bookings have been coming into Africa from the USA and Continental European markets for a few weeks now, it’s the UK market that our suppliers on the ground across Africa are looking forward to welcoming back.”