It’s good news France has lifted its Covid travel ban – but the industry is still under a cloud
Travel finds itself the most prominent pawn in the political games that accompany the pandemic, writes Simon Calder
With presidential elections imminent in France, Emmanuel Macron is no doubt looking at every decision through the prism of political popularity. The travel ban that lifts on Friday perhaps had its roots as a robust response to Boris Johnson’s absurd quarantine decision last summer.
The prime minister and health secretary created a special category known as “amber plus” to mandate self-isolation for anyone coming in from mainland France, with no data to support the exclusion. The riposte no doubt landed well with some voters in France.
Conversely, while the futility of the ban on UK visitors was clear two weeks ago, it would not have been a shrewd political move for the president to open the frontiers while imposing tighter restrictions domestically. Even though the UK supplies one in seven travellers to France (and a much higher proportion of winter visitors to the Alps), the political gain presumably outweighed the economic pain.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies