restrictions won’t keep variants out but might
give countries more time to get
people vaccinated.
London-based airline easyJet said that
renewed travel restrictions already appear to
be hurting winter bookings, although CEO
Johan Lundgren said the damage is not yet as
severe as during previous waves. The CEO of
SAS Scandinavian Airlines said winter demand
was looking up, but now we “need to figure out
what the new variants may mean.”
“In the past year, each new variant has brought
a decline in bookings, but then an increase
once the surge dissipates,” said Helane Becker,
an analyst with financial services firm Cowen.
“We expect the same pattern” this time.
Israel’s decision to close the country to foreign
visitors is hitting the nation’s tourism industry
as it geared up for the Hanukkah and Christmas
holidays. The country only opened to tourists
in November, after barring most foreign visitors
since early last year.
Just over 30,000 tourists entered Israel in the
first half of November, compared to 421,000
in November 2019, according to government
figures.
Joel Haber, a Jerusalem-based guide, said
during a typical Hanukkah holiday his calendar
would be chock full of food tours through
Jerusalem’s colorful Mahane Yehuda market.
Instead, he has just one tour a day.
“Tour guides like me are the first to get hit and
the last to emerge and are directly prevented
from working by a government decision,”
Haber said.