One in five people responding to an online poll by the motoring organisation VAB said they were hesitant or definite about not going on holiday this summer.
Those people said they would prefer to postpone holiday plans until their was more security concerning the use of the corona-pass for travelling from one country to another.
At present, while there is nominally one document that is used to travel within the EU, showing one’s status as infected, tested or vaccinated, in practice different member states have different rules, and circumstances may change at any moment.
At the help desk of the VAB, they are experiencing directly the confusion that is rife among the population. Motorists in particular are full of questions: for example, what is the situation of a family of four travelling to Portugal via France and Spain?
Of the 1,400 people who took part in the poll, 294 or 21% said they had still to decide about travelling, and were doubtful. Another 24% have decided not to travel abroad at all. Six percent have already been on holiday and have no further travel plans, while 17% have been once and plan on going again.
Finally, 28% have not yet been, but have concrete travel plans. This last category includes around half of all respondents aged 31-45 years.
Of those who have decided to postpone holiday plans, four out of ten said travelling at the moment was ‘too much fuss’.
Around one-third fear the effects of the virus, in particular the delta variant. And three in ten are worried about the need to quarantine either at their destination or on returning home.
And in good news for the Belgian tourist industry, three in ten of those who still have holiday plans intend to spend their holiday (and their holiday cash) in Belgium instead. One in five is headed for France, and one in ten for Spain.
Unsurprisingly for a poll on a motoring website, the car comes out as the preferred mode of transport. For those aged 18-30, four out of ten prefer to fly.
