British travellers will make the most of the summer holiday season – restrictions or not

While the travel industry panics at the lack of detail about when actual holidays will be permitted, day-trippers are voting with their feet, pedals and tyres, writes Simon Calder

Blackpool will become popular with day-trippers, although locals may not be happy (AFP)

The sick man of Europe”: that was the harsh description of the UK that I heard this weekend from an avid traveller. He expressed concern that the rate of coronavirus infection and tragically high number of deaths meant that British visitors will not be welcome abroad.

Added to casual comments from ministers that “summer is cancelled”, and continued uncertainty over when the government’s quarantine scheme will begin, a trip to Europe or beyond this summer remains frustratingly beyond reach.

Those of us with long travel memories will be reminded of the 1970s. This was the decade when economic woes and deep industrial problems earned the UK its “sick man” title – and also an era where overseas travel was fraught with difficulty.

This was partly because of the parlous state of the nations and the average family’s finances. But it was also because of government action.

For almost the entire decade, the amount that British travellers could spend abroad was restricted. Though the notorious £50 limit was widely flouted, it added to the disincentives for departing from Dover (international air travel being well beyond the reach of the average UK citizen).

The Exchange Control Act 1947 was torn up by the Thatcher government almost as soon as it took control in 1979.

For the past four decades, the British traveller could roam unfettered across the UK and the world – until the lockdown took effect as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking any kind of holiday – defined as going somewhere and staying overnight – is banned across the UK. Those of us living in England, though, are entitled to venture out on day trips, so long as the destination is a public open space.

While the travel industry howls with anguish at the lack of detail about when actual holidays will be permitted, day-trippers are voting with their feet, pedals and tyres.

A day out in Blackpool or the Lake District is once again the height of travel aspiration. But with two big differences compared with the 1970s: you may not travel by rail; and the good people at those destinations are making it clear that they would prefer not to host us right now. Perhaps a better era in which to time-travel is the early 19th century, before a pastor named Thomas Cook decided to expand our horizons.

Yours,

Simon Calder

Travel correspondent