Survey highlights a need for more flexible travel policies for European consumers

The survey, which YouGov shared exclusively with Reuters, revealed that over two thirds of respondents from the countries of France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Britain were opposed to concept of mask-wearing outdoors, and so would cancel their upcoming trips if this became mandatory.

Having to take a test upon arrival and the possibility of having to quarantine was equally as unpopular among those surveyed: in France, half of those who normally holiday abroad said they would cancel rather than take a test, while 80 per cent of Danes, Swedes and Germans said they would cancel a trip if they had to stay at home for two weeks afterwards; 65 per cent of French respondents said they would do the same, as did 70 per cent of British respondents, who now need to quarantine upon travelling to a number of different destinations.

So, what do these consumer sentiments mean for the travel industry? Well, lots of airlines have been ramping up their number of scheduled flights over the last few weeks – most recently, easyJet announced that it has expanded its summer schedule after unexpected demand and says it expects to operate about 1,000 flights a day in August (the airline expects to operate 40 per cent of its capacity between July and September, higher than the 30 per cent predicted at its first-half results). But while these airlines and air travel associations know that consumer confidence in booking is key to ramping up their revenue, it seems extremely unlikely that consumers will be covered by airlines in the instance they decide to cancel their holiday plans should they be required to wear a mask or test upon arrival at a destination.

As public safety rules and regulations surrounding Covid-19 are continuously evolving and changing, holidaymakers will need to make sure they have comprehensive cover should they decide to cancel holidays due to needing to wear a mask, for example, and travel insurers should use such surveys to work on getting their customer offerings right – cancel for any reason policies will surely prove to be a popular choice for consumers who may decide to change their holiday plans for non-emergency reasons such as those mentioned above.