Will you travel? [Mod Note in Post #1 - Travel Discussion Only! Megathread]

GazzaL

RobitTV wrote: »

Now they are talking about keeping the hospitality industry shut until June. Anybody considering coming home should make other plans if they can afford to stay abroad.

I sometimes don't blame those people who went to Dubai when I hear more depressing news.

Every other country in Europe will have hospitality open.

Iago

GazzaL wrote: »

Every other country in Europe will have hospitality open.

Spain shutting down hospitality from tonight

Golfman64

Iago wrote: »

Spain shutting down hospitality from tonight

They are indeed but I would bet my house on Spain, Italy, Portugal etc. having a fairly reasonable tourist season from May onwards at the latest. They simply can’t afford another missed season and combined with the effects of the vaccine as well as the current lockdown, they will likely be in a decent enough position by then.

Iago

You may be right, but I wouldn’t be anywhere near as confident. Loosening restrictions for xmas and reyes magos has left them with worse numbers than at the height of the first wave. Most events up to the start of April are already cancelled or postponed. Looks bleak right now.

lainey_d_123

RobitTV wrote: »

Stunning day in Lanzarote, this is what the new 'restrictions' look like :pac: people sitting outside in the sun, bars and cafes open, retail units open, barbers and hairdressers open, people can move freely around the island without being stopped and told to return home.

The covid cases are starting to stagnate and fall over there now. The Christmas backlog of covid cases has been cleared, and its likely sometime in February they will reduce the restrictions and allow bars to open until 11pm or midnight again if things go really well.

Good God, I nearly got sick with motion sickness watching that. Is it just me?

Had to turn it off so didn't see much of it but would love to be in the Canaries right now. I'm stuck in London and can't see any travel being possible for ages.

gmisk

RobitTV wrote: »

Stunning day in Lanzarote, this is what the new 'restrictions' look like :pac: people sitting outside in the sun, bars and cafes open, retail units open, barbers and hairdressers open, people can move freely around the island without being stopped and told to return home.

The covid cases are starting to stagnate and fall over there now. The Christmas backlog of covid cases has been cleared, and its likely sometime in February they will reduce the restrictions and allow bars to open until 11pm or midnight again if things go really well.

I have been following the numbers pretty closely there as it's where my folks are.
Anywhere I have read they are not stagnating and falling...they hit record cases today...yesterday they had record numbers in ICU and in hospital...
People might be able to move freely but they have to wear masks when outside at all times and it is enforced.

RobitTV

gmisk wrote: »

I have been following the numbers pretty closely there as it's where my folks are.
Anywhere I have read they are not stagnating and falling...they hit record cases today...yesterday they had record numbers in ICU and in hospital...
People might be able to move freely but they have to wear masks when outside at all times and it is enforced.

I do agree, the case figures are still pretty high over there and I hope they will work hard to get them back down over the coming days and weeks.

I'm cautiously optimistic, because I believe that by early February we will see cases begin to decline as the Christmas surge will have passed and all of Christmas related covid cases will have been fully recorded by the local authorities.

The situation isn't great right now, but I do believe that February might change the direction of the outbreak and cases might begin to decline.

I hope your parents are keeping safe

dartboardio

Sick of all of this now! Was in Poland in october for 1 week and decided to stay for 7 weeks because what was the point in coming home....

Got flights to Dubai for €179 each way for the 3rd of February so I am outta here until god knows when! lol. (tests either side obviously!)

BringBackMick

dartboardio wrote: »

Sick of all of this now! Was in Poland in october for 1 week and decided to stay for 7 weeks because what was the point in coming home....

Got flights to Dubai for €179 each way for the 3rd of February so I am outta here until god knows when! lol. (tests either side obviously!)

Where you staying? Not mad expensive ?

dartboardio

BringBackMick wrote: »

Where you staying? Not mad expensive ?

Got a 'one bedroom suite' in the mercure hotel barsha heights, beautiful looking room and the hotel has 2 bars and a restaurant pool etc. across the road from a metro station

€522 on expedia for 11 nights!!:eek: they must have been trying to get rid of them..

I've been doing tons of research and yes dubai seems expensive in general however every night and day there are hundreds of great 2for1 and happy hour deals on and packages etc, so we will be making good use of them! Lovely rooftop bars with 2 drinks for 11 euro etc, i've done a spreadsheet of all the deals ahaha. I heard dubai is all about research and you can make it a fairly okay priced trip!

Never been. looking forward to it, At first I was a bit like 'meh' not majorly into shopping or skyscrapers but really looking forward to it now, there seems to be an awful lot of things to do there, like desert safaris, day trip to abu dhabi etc.

johnire

I don't think you'll get to Abu Dhabi. As far as I know travel is restricted between these two Emirates.

dartboardio wrote: »

Got a 'one bedroom suite' in the mercure hotel barsha heights, beautiful looking room and the hotel has 2 bars and a restaurant pool etc. across the road from a metro station

€522 on expedia for 11 nights!!:eek: they must have been trying to get rid of them..

I've been doing tons of research and yes dubai seems expensive in general however every night and day there are hundreds of great 2for1 and happy hour deals on and packages etc, so we will be making good use of them! Lovely rooftop bars with 2 drinks for 11 euro etc, i've done a spreadsheet of all the deals ahaha. I heard dubai is all about research and you can make it a fairly okay priced trip!

Never been. looking forward to it, At first I was a bit like 'meh' not majorly into shopping or skyscrapers but really looking forward to it now, there seems to be an awful lot of things to do there, like desert safaris, day trip to abu dhabi etc.

dartboardio

johnire wrote: »

I don't think you'll get to Abu Dhabi. As far as I know travel is restricted between these two Emirates.

Yeah I seen we need a test to travel between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

No big deal if we can’t but would be nice to see it. The pcr tests are cheap enough in Dubai afaik

smurfjed

Dubai has an inbound Duty Free, so hit that for your booze, they also changed their laws recently that tourists could buy booze in the specified shops. Some nice Irish bars there but drinking out isn’t cheap. What are you doing about health insurance? Also make sure that you have a good VPN if you are planning to WFH.

pc7

dartboardio wrote: »

Never been. looking forward to it, At first I was a bit like 'meh' not majorly into shopping or skyscrapers but really looking forward to it now, there seems to be an awful lot of things to do there, like desert safaris, day trip to abu dhabi etc.

The water park is great if you like them (yes I am a big kid ). Most hotels if on beach you can use kyaks etc, water is so hot (well was when I was there). You will have a good time, its different but nice.

smurfjed

DUBAI: Dubai has suspended entertainment activities in restaurants and hotels as a precaution against the continued rise in coronavirus cases in the country.

In circular to owners and managers of hotels and restaurants in the emirate, the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing said that field inspections have discovered “an increase in violations during entertainment activities in hotels and restaurants.”

“The Department directs all concerned in hotel establishments and restaurants to temporarily hold entertainment activities as of Thursday, January 21, 2021 until further notice,” the government agency said.

Are you committed to Dubai?

daydorunrun

Extend our stay in Gran Canaria last night. It will mean missing almost all of January at home- Mix of WFH and homeschooling on the balcony for another while.

Anybody’s thinking of coming over in spring time should probably opt for the islands with the highest rates atm. I.e. if you’re planning on coming over in March-April Lanz & GC are probably best as their case numbers should be trending down over the next few weeks with the new level 3. Tenerife has eased restrictions so they’ll likely trend the other way. It’s a bit of a moving target.
Looking at the news here all vast majority of cases are associated with household clusters from family gatherings much like home. I think Tenerife will rise quick enough as it has the biggest urban areas and a population who can’t wait to interact in a more normal way after a restricted holiday period.

There is talk of regional governments being granted permission to bring in 8 pm curfews instead of 10 & 11pm which is the case at the moment. The feeling here is that mainland Spain may use that option in some of the larger urban areas rather than here. There is little talk of new variations here, suppose this could change if cases spiral which does seem to be happening in Lanz. Their 14 day rate was under 100 not so long ago, it’s nearly 700 now which is a mirror image of how Tenerife has performed in the opposite direction. It is worth noting that wire relatively small populations on each island, one outbreak can massively impact the 14 day rates.

Current Incidence rate (IA14):
Canary Islands: 180.55 (3,888 cases over last 14 days)
Lanzarote: 680.94 (1,037)
El Hierro: 237.05 (26)
Fuerteventura: 208.75 (244)
Gran Canaria: 190.55 (1,622)
Tenerife: 101.43 (931)
La Gomera: 37.20 (8)
La Palma: 24.19 (20)

faceman

The Spanish prime minister bizarrely today has said that Spain won’t be welcoming tourists until after the summer. It’s raised more than a few eyebrows

Plus Ireland’s Legion of Doom are pushing for their short sighted mandatory quarantine facilities paid for by travellers in what amounted to a circle jerk webinar

Mandatory travel quarantine should be introduced by Ireland, experts urge
via The Irish Times
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/mandatory-travel-quarantine-should-be-introduced-by-ireland-experts-urge-1.4464184

Golfman64

faceman wrote: »

The Spanish prime minister bizarrely today has said that Spain won’t be welcoming tourists until after the summer. It’s raised more than a few eyebrows

Plus Ireland’s Legion of Doom are pushing for their short sighted mandatory quarantine facilities paid for by travellers in what amounted to a circle jerk webinar

Mandatory travel quarantine should be introduced by Ireland, experts urge
via The Irish Times
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/mandatory-travel-quarantine-should-be-introduced-by-ireland-experts-urge-1.4464184

Wow! That is incredible for Spain to make such a statement. Do you think that will actually be the case? Personally I can see them adopting a ‘vaccine cert or negative rapid test’ requirement but to close their tourism sector until then sounds out of context or unlikely given they haven’t done that last Summer and the economic value of the industry to them.

dartboardio

smurfjed wrote: »

Dubai has an inbound Duty Free, so hit that for your booze, they also changed their laws recently that tourists could buy booze in the specified shops. Some nice Irish bars there but drinking out isn’t cheap. What are you doing about health insurance? Also make sure that you have a good VPN if you are planning to WFH.

Thanks will do!

So tourists are allowed to buy alcohol in specific supermarkets now without a licence or do you mean we are allowed to buy from duty free?

We are gonna make good use of all the happy hour and 2 for 1 deals in the likes of mcgettigans,fibbers etc :pac::cool:

i have to do a bit of research today on health insurance, any recommendations?!

pottokblue

Maybe Spain will focus on their domestic tourist market like our chairman of Failte Ireland did last summer...

faceman

Golfman64 wrote: »

Wow! That is incredible for Spain to make such a statement. Do you think that will actually be the case? Personally I can see them adopting a ‘vaccine cert or negative rapid test’ requirement but to close their tourism sector until then sounds out of context or unlikely given they haven’t done that last Summer and the economic value of the industry to them.

Assuming no vaccine proof strains arise I wouldn’t expect so. It’s bonkers what he said. The health minister do Spain had said he expects tourism to restart by the start of the summer.

It’s similar to Tony Holohan saying tourism resumes in June but MM saying September!

agoodpunt

Here in lanszarote case are shooting up talk of extending the curfew from 8pm was/is 10, 80% resturants and bars shut no tourists here compare to weeks before xmas
Even though the mask compliance is nearly 100% €100 fine if not wearing and demanded by forceful armed police
add that curfew and wtf with increasing numbers how is it still spreading?

TomSweeney

Bizarre stuff altogether here.

https://english.elpais.com/spanish_news/2021-01-21/spain-reports-41576-new-coronavirus-cases-the-highest-single-day-figure-so-far.html


Sorry I checked media today ...

TomSweeney

agoodpunt wrote: »

Here in lanszarote case are shooting up talk of extending the curfew from 8pm was/is 10, 80% resturants and bars shut no tourists here compare to weeks before xmas
Even though the mask compliance is nearly 100% €100 fine if not wearing and demanded by forceful armed police
add that curfew and wtf with increasing numbers how is it still spreading?

Exactly, it's almost as if the masks make no f*cking difference ?

gmisk

RobitTV wrote: »

I do agree, the case figures are still pretty high over there and I hope they will work hard to get them back down over the coming days and weeks.

I'm cautiously optimistic, because I believe that by early February we will see cases begin to decline as the Christmas surge will have passed and all of Christmas related covid cases will have been fully recorded by the local authorities.

The situation isn't great right now, but I do believe that February might change the direction of the outbreak and cases might begin to decline.

I hope your parents are keeping safe

I really can't see things there changing dramatically in February.

They are thanks.
Main thing is my dad can golf lol.
They were thinking of coming back March but very little chance of that now and I wouldn't blame them.

gmisk

agoodpunt wrote: »

Here in lanszarote case are shooting up talk of extending the curfew from 8pm was/is 10, 80% resturants and bars shut no tourists here compare to weeks before xmas
Even though the mask compliance is nearly 100% €100 fine if not wearing and demanded by forceful armed police
add that curfew and wtf with increasing numbers how is it still spreading?

I'd say part of it is due to people having the virus and not knowing about it and mixing.
My folks said some bars over there were hopping for new years...and even worse for the three kings which is Jan 5th I think?

gmisk

TomSweeney wrote: »

Exactly, it's almost as if the masks make no f*cking difference ?

Simple question.
Would you rather have someone beside you cough and splutter with or without a mask on?
All the studies I have read indicate they can help.
They are not some type of magic bullet though.
Need to be used with social distancing, washing hands etc.

I do think a campaign about wearing masks properly might help.
Mask wearing in ireland has improved massively imo. But still some eejits with it not covering nose etc.

TomSweeney

gmisk wrote: »

I'd say part of it is due to people having the virus and not knowing about it and mixing.
My folks said some bars over there were hopping for new years...and even worse for the three kings which is Jan 5th I think?

Jan 5th night yeah, so this is the last big spike we will see here ... let's see.


should calm down in the next few weeks ...








should

Coybig_

TomSweeney wrote: »

Exactly, it's almost as if the masks make no f*cking difference ?

People stuff their mask in their pocket, wear the same disposable one for days on end, paw the thing relentlessly - it's a laugh how people think masks are the saviour. Pure optics.

The Continental Op

Coybig_ wrote: »

People stuff their mask in their pocket, wear the same disposable one for days on end, paw the thing relentlessly - it's a laugh how people think masks are the saviour. Pure optics.

You don't wear a mask to stop yourself from getting Covid you wear one to reduce the chance of you spreading it :rolleyes: