‘It’s Time To Allow People To Travel Freely’: Maltese Hotel Lobby Calls For End To COVID-19 Travel Restrictions
The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) has backed calls to end the remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions in Malta.
While recognising the efforts of the Maltese authorities in mitigating the spread of the virus, the association maintained that they don’t reflect the latest developments happening within the sector.
“Patchwork of restrictions do nothing to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but rather, they unnecessarily complicate the running of operations, leading to delays at the airport and business inefficiencies,” MRHA President Tony Zahra said.
“Over the past few weeks, we have seen economies reopening. It is time to remove ineffective restrictions and allow people to travel freely.”
In a press release, the association maintained that travelers often seek the ‘path of least resistance’ as far as journeying goes. And while in their eyes, Malta has been deemed a ‘safe destination’, Malta has still shown resistance in the path of many travelers.
“The situation continues to impact the sector negatively despite establishments eyeing a potential recovery in tourism in the coming months.”
Zahra also addressed the matter of the Russo-Ukrainian war as one which could affect tourism in Malta, should the country fail to put a stop to travel restrictions.
“The war in Ukraine has created a situation where countries such as Cyprus and Turkey, which depended heavily on Russian and Ukrainian tourists, will be concentrating their efforts on marketing their products in other source countries. Most of which are our markets.”
“We, therefore, expect serious competition in these markets and need to be able to compete on a level playing field, making it imperative that such restrictions are removed immediately.”
Alan Borg, the CEO of Malta International Airport, has called for the end of COVID-19 entry restrictions, on par with other countries across the globe.
“Ireland – abolished all COVID-19 entry restrictions from 6th March. Romania – lifted all travel restrictions imposed due to COVID-19, as of 9th March. Greece – scrapped all Passenger Locator Forms from 15th March. UK – abolished all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions for arrivals from other countries from 18th March. The Netherlands – abolish entry rules for all travelers from 23rd March,” Borg said on social media.
Though as more and more European countries remove COVID-19 travel restrictions, chaos is still reigning at the Malta International Airport.
Footage sent to Lovin Malta showed hundreds of people packed by the baggage reclaim area last Sunday as they waited for their turn to exit the gates and proceed to a COVID-19 paper checkpoint, manned by public health officials.
The government has so far refused to give any indications about when it plans to relax travel rules amid ongoing discussions with European counterparts taken in this regard.
Should Malta scrap its COVID-19 travel rules?