The 'tourism bubbles' that could mark the short-term future of travel

In the last week we have heard whispers of how “social bubbles” could be introduced during a phased exit of lockdown. Downing Street is reportedly considering the plan, which would allow people to mix with a small group of family and friends.

The idea has already been rolled out in New Brunswick, Canada, where residents can pick another household to interact with. 

But now, countries are discussing possible “travel bubbles” – a plan that would allow people to travel freely between two or more countries in a phased introduction to international tourism.

The Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has confirmed he is in talks with New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, about creating a “trans-Tasman bubble”.

“If there is any country in the world with whom we can reconnect with first, undoubtedly that’s New Zealand,” Morrison told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australia and New Zealand have historically been the primary source of tourism for each other, with 2.6 million people flying between the two countries in 2019. Nothing concrete has been confirmed between the two countries, but elsewhere we are already seeing travel bubble agreements in the making.

China and South Korea

Business travel is set to resume between China and South Korea as of next month. South Koreans will be able to travel between Seoul and Shanghai, Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu and Anhui in China, if the individual has an invitation from a company based in China.

Before departing, they will need to monitor their health for two weeks and obtain a certificate proving they have been cleared of the virus. On arrival, they will have to self-isolate for one or two days at a designated facility.

As part of the bilateral talks, which took place on April 29, China and South Korea agreed to continue discussions about reopening commercial (non-business) flight operations once the virus outbreak stabilizes. A China-South Korea tourism bubble could well be the first one we see in action. 

The 'corona corridor'

The idea has also been mooted in Europe. The Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek told SchengenVisaInfo.com: “We wanted to open Slovakia or Austria to tourists from July and possibly other travel destinations from August. If the situation remains positive, it may go even faster.”

The idea of a "corona corridor" allowing tourists from the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany to reach resorts in Croatia has also been discussed. Gari Cappelli, Croatia’s tourism minister, said plans could cover road, rail, air and sea travel.

There could be bigger bubbles in development, across the rest of Europe. This week EU ministers in Brussels have discussed creating a network of tourism corridors between EU countries to help kickstart member states’ economies. More than three quarters of trips by EU citizens are to other EU countries.

Vera Jourova, a vice-president in the EU executive, called on the bloc’s member states to lift travel bans and border controls “as soon as possible” after it was deemed safe by scientific advice.

The UK is not allowed to attend these meetings, after leaving the European Union on January 31, and there have been fears that British holidaymakers could be excluded from the plans. However, Jourovo moved to quash fears that Britons may not be able to benefit from EU tourism initiatives this summer. The commission will publish a strategy document on May 13.

Britain and Ireland? 

So could we see our own travel bubble developing, in the coming months? If domestic tourism in the UK resumes before international tourism, which is likely, it is possible that a de-facto travel bubble could be created between the UK and Ireland, since there are currently no checks on the Northern Ireland border. 

Indeed today two major business groups wrote to the governments in Dublin and Belfast to urge cooperation in the recovery from coronavirus. The CBI and its Irish equivalent, Ibec, have said an economic reboot will need “the highest level of co-operation, co-ordination and joined-up thinking”. A bilateral tourism push could form part of this.

Stefan Gössling, professor of sustainable tourism at Linnaeus University in Sweden, agrees with the principle of a tourism bubble: “This makes perfect sense to me. Take Germany, for example, which does not plan to open its borders again until June. That does make sense with regard to some countries, such as France and Italy, but it does not make sense at all for Denmark or Sweden, which have lower infection rates than Germany,” he told Telegraph Travel.

“We need to find ways to deal with the virus, and strategies have to be fact-based. There is a greater risk of getting infected by travelling between specific regions within a country than between countries. 

“And there are ways of making stays safe within countries. I cannot see any argument against opening up borders again between some countries, provided travellers adhere to social distancing, masks, hand hygiene – specifically where there is a need to use public transport (ferries, trains).”

However, Gössling points out that travel bubbles requiring international flights would not be an environmentally sustainable solution. Aviation is already one of the top contributors to global carbon emissions, but if, as some airlines like easyJet have suggested, planes resume operations with reduced capacities, we could be looking at an increase in carbon emission per passenger. 

He added: “The pandemic is a reminder of what climate change can do, with the difference that climate change will not go away again. We cannot increase the impact by transporting people using twice the energy and causing twice the emissions. That price is too high – we need more domestic tourism this year where countries can only be reached by aircraft.”

There are also concerns that selective reopening could hinder the global travel industry. The airline lobbying group, IATA, argues that we need to avoid a patchwork of regulations, and that countries must work together to reboot international tourism.

“We must start building a framework for a global approach,” IATA said. “When the world is ready to start travelling again, the global economy will need aviation... that will require a harmonized approach.