The UK’s largest tour operator are to resume holidays to eight destinations across Spain and Greece from 11 July.
The tour operator have expressed total “confidence” that travel restrictions will lifted by that date.
The Greek Islands of Crete, Rhodes, Kos, and Corfu along with the Spanish Islands of Tenerife, Lanzarote, Majorca, Ibiza and the Balearics.
Richard Sofer, Tui’s commercial director told the PA news agency, “Due to the size of our organisation we’ve been able to have a presence in each of those government conversations through our aviation team or through the senior members of the UK business.
“We’re well-informed of where those discussions are.
“Obviously, many of those conversations are confidential but that gives us great confidence to open up a small programme to a couple of really key countries, eight key gateways for us.
“We have absolute confidence that we’re going to be getting a positive result from the Government in time for July.”
He said that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) need to stop advising against all non-essential travel and air bridges need to be opened to enable overseas travel.
Sofer described the FCO’s current travel advice as “slightly unhelpful from a planning point of view.”
He added, “Our European colleagues have benefited where they’ve had clear lines in the sand and dates to be working to.
“The UK position is effectively just under review, so it’s uncertain.
“When customers are in their hotels, on the beach, using the vast majority of the attractions and facilities in destinations, they’re going to be able to enjoy those destinations and experiences as they would under normal circumstances.
“We’re not expecting hotels to be as full as they would have been pre-Covid-19.
“That will be helpful for creating extra spaces and allowing social distancing to be fulfilled without too much intervention and disruption to people’s holidays.”
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