When the package tour provider Alltours announced at the end of February that it would probably only accept vaccinated people in its group’s Allsun hotels from autumn onwards, there was great outrage – and not only among vaccination opponents. At that time, many people thought their own spades were very far away and they sensed an unjust two-class society.
Alltours is no longer alone with this line. More and more organizers are deciding to introduce compulsory vaccinations, mainly for organizational reasons. In some countries, unvaccinated people are no longer allowed to enter the country; elsewhere, significantly stricter requirements apply to them, which makes group travel especially difficult.
Studiosus, a provider for group travel from Munich, will only allow vaccinated and convalescents to travel with them from October 1st. There are no socio-political intentions behind it, explains a spokesman. “We simply reacted to practice with it.” Many countries have tightened the hygiene regulations and demand, for example, tests for unvaccinated people in coaches or when visiting museums and other sights. At the same time, around 97 percent of Studiosus guests are already fully vaccinated. It would therefore not be practical if tests had to be organized almost daily for individual, unvaccinated people in the travel groups. “That just stops and rubs off on the group harmony,” said the organizer. The rule was well received by customers. Due to the high vaccination rate, only a dozen would have canceled free of charge.
The shipping companies rely on the 2G rule for many routes
The cruise lines are also introducing compulsory vaccinations on many ships. At Aida Cruises, this rule is likely to apply to families with small children in particular, as no vaccine has been approved for children under the age of twelve and from now on they will be excluded from trips to the Caribbean and the Orient. The shipping company recently withdrew this handle for trips to Norway after the Norwegian authorities relaxed their entry requirements for cruise ships and unvaccinated children are also allowed to enter there again.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has made vaccinations mandatory for adults on all ships from autumn – “as an additional safety measure,” said a spokeswoman. The shipping company also found that most of the guests were vaccinated anyway. Exceptions for families with small children are possible, provided the route allows this. The recovered status is also recognized.
The major German tour operators are monitoring developments very closely, but have not yet introduced any compulsory vaccinations. “We are currently examining the topic for selected types of travel,” says DER Touristik, for example.
Europe’s largest holiday group, Tui, currently has no plans to exclude unvaccinated people from package tours. From the company’s point of view, this is also difficult. “2G cannot be implemented along the entire travel chain – most likely in the hotel,” says a spokesman. Because the 3G rule applies to flights: Even those who tested negative without vaccination are allowed to travel on the aircraft. But even in the hotel the advantages for the traveler are limited from the TUI’s point of view. For example, the local authorities would continue to prescribe masks in the interiors of hotels. With 2G, a greater feeling of freedom is not necessarily possible there.
FTI has not yet introduced any mandatory vaccination and does not want to do so in the future either. According to CEO Ralph Schiller, all customers should have the opportunity to travel – while that is still possible. “Regardless of our own assessment, we assume that the 2G rule will prevail in many hotels and travel destinations in the long term,” says Schiller.
In view of the very different regulations, Norbert Fiebig, President of the German Travel Association (DRV) hopes for the most uniform provisions possible in the destination areas, at least within the EU. “The currently existing patchwork quilt, but also the constant short-term changes, continue to cause uncertainty and lead to reluctance to book,” said Fiebig.