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New travel restrictions: a "hammer blow" for the French West Indies

2021-01-19T11:05:58.899Z


Travelers arriving in Guadeloupe and Martinique must now respect 7 days of isolation, in addition to presenting a negative PCR. A new constraint with serious consequences for tourists and travel professionals.


While more than 100,000 people went to Martinique for the end of the year celebrations, the island has decided to toughen, from this Monday, January 18, its entry conditions.

Travelers from all origins must, in addition to the mandatory negative PCR test, undergo strict confinement for 7 days and perform a new test at the end of it.

For the prefect Stanislas Cazelles, it is a question of

"avoiding the introduction of the English variant by a traveler who would be carrying the virus but would not have been tested positively on departure"

.

Following the same logic, all travelers arriving in Guadeloupe from the mainland will have to commit themselves "

on the honor

" to respecting a 7-day isolation, in addition to the negative PCR test.

Already cancellations

A brutal decision for tourism professionals, who were informed of these new measures at the same time as the population.

“This is a real blow to the sector, we were absolutely not prepared for such an announcement.

We had good attendance for the Christmas holidays and were counting on the February holidays to confirm this trend.

But at this stage, we have already recorded several cancellations or postponements, ”

deplores François Baltus-Languedoc, director general of the Martinique Tourism Committee.

Read also: Covid-19 and travel restrictions: what changes from January 18

Some questions from holidaymakers remain unanswered today.

Meetings with the prefects of the two islands are scheduled for Tuesday, January 19, to learn more about the measures to be applied during isolation.

One thing is certain,

"the vast majority of travelers will be able to take advantage of their private hotel rental"

, confirms François Baltus-Languedoc.

A capital point when we know that the average length of stay in Martinique is around ten days.

It remains to be seen whether checks will be carried out during this septaine and whether customers will be able to go to their hotel restaurant for lunch.

The islands of Guadeloupe were also one of the most popular and most booked destinations for the next February vacation.

Maïté Marie-Antoinette

Regarding reimbursements, tourism professionals cannot confirm to date that the pretext of isolation for 7 days falls within the contractual cancellation conditions.

“The short delay between these new travel arrangements and their implementation is causing some confusion.

A lot of questions have been coming from tour operators and travel agents over the past two days, ”

says Maïté Marie-Antoinette, Director of Market Development for Guadeloupe.

As far as carriers are concerned, all airlines are maintaining their flight schedule from Europe for the time being.

Read also: February holidays: Dubai, Guadeloupe and Martinique seduce French travelers

Despite this shock wave, the rather stable health situation over the last two months gives hope, especially in Guadeloupe.

“We were able to anticipate tourist frequentation in December and its impact on the evolution of the pandemic was controlled.

The islands of Guadeloupe were, moreover, one of the most popular and most booked destinations for the next February vacation, ”

says Maïté Marie-Antoinette.

As for Martinique, the incidence rate remains below the alert threshold for the seventh consecutive week: 21.7 per 10,000 inhabitants during the week, according to figures from the Regional Health Agency.

A major asset to attract tourists despite the constraints?

Case to be continued.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-01-19

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