Not driving home for Christmas
Typical media narratives presume Christmas travel is for leisure purposes, but that isn’t always the case…
It appears to me that all I seem to be reading about at the moment in the news and on Twitter is ‘New Variant’ this, ‘Tighter Restrictions’ that. Perpetual updates about the shit-show that we call our government and their variable response to the infamous COVID-19 pandemic seem to be unavoidable. I arrived in Dubai yesterday afternoon, around about the same time that the government announced the new restrictions that have since come into place in the South-East of England. London and surrounding areas have now been categorised into a brand new, fresh faced Tier 4, a tier which didn’t exist 24 hours ago within a previously ‘3-Tiered System.’ I’m sure I can’t be the only one who is struggling to keep up.
One of the new announced restrictions not only limits those who live in Tier 4 from moving internally, it also limits people from being able to travel abroad — unless of course, it’s for work purposes *pretends to be shocked*. The dynamic duo that is Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock have ‘Teared up the festive bubble’ — a short period of laxity that had been anticipated for months prior. These late-noticed announcements have forced families to cancel their Christmas travel plans, not only limiting people’s freedom but also placing an extra load of stress on millions of people. There’s no surprise that these decisions were made less than a day after the schools broke up for the holidays — a weekend whereby international travel would have inevitably seen a rapid increase. So where does this leave people whose Christmas plans were meant to be spent with family living abroad?
Reading the headlines regarding travel restrictions and COVID-19 over the past few months, it appears the me that the narrative is centred around ‘unessential travel’ or holiday makers. For example, the fact that students coming home from University over Christmas wasn’t considered as essential travel in the eyes of the Prime Minister. In regard to international travel to the UAE, the narrative appears to centre around people’s dying need to go on holiday there. Especially as Dubai is one of the few places which is currently on the foreign office’s safe list.
However, according to statistics taken from iExpats, more than 5.5 million people from Britain live overseas, accounting for 1 in 10 of the population. Australia ranks first place as the top destination for expats, and Spain in second. The UAE comes in twelfth place, with approximately 55,000 Brits living out here. If you consider the population of London alone as edging towards 9 million, then it’s more than fair to suggest that there is going to be a lot of people who would have been planning to see loved ones overseas for Christmas, who are now unable to do so. Had I chosen to travel a day later, it may have been the case that I was unable to see my Dad and brother for Christmas, who are based in the UAE.
No doubt that people who work in the travel industry will be taking the forefront of people’s outrage, tears and distress about not being able to see relatives over the Christmas period — a time whereby people want, need and should be together. More than this, the travel and hospitality sector has been one of the most hard hit by the virus (and its variants). In November, the BBC announced that a fifth of the hospitality sector jobs had been lost in 2020, a figure that has likely increased since.
According to Bloomberg, airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will not be issuing refunds to passengers who are unable to travel due to the new government policies. Not only does this signify towards a progressively struggling industry, it also places further financial stress on those prepared passengers who will be unable to fly.
The fact of the matter is, the majority of travellers who would have been travelling over the next few weeks, would more than likely not be travelling for leisure purposes. Considering that most places aren’t currently accepting UK tourists and a considerable percentage of people have family who live abroad, it’s likely that this labelled ‘unessential travel’ is in fact, somewhat essential. We all know that Christmas is a time for families to be together, “a time for love” as quoted by Hugh Grant. But more than this, taken from Piedmont Healthcare, psychological studies have proven the benefits of having family and friends around you, stating that it helps with stress, as well as improves your psychological wellbeing. Throughout a year of prolonged loneliness, it almost feels as if the government are trying to tarnish our mental health to breaking point.
I’m fully aware that this pandemic is no joke, with cases increasing on a daily basis. However, frustration doesn’t even define the feeling when taking a look at places like Australia and New Zealand, that appear to be back living in what once was known as life. Even spending time in Dubai, it’s seems quite apparent that the UK government are completely responsible for the mess that they’ve caused. More than this, it appears to me that the government has lost a large sense of moral correctness in regard to the masses of people who would have planned to travel both internally and abroad to visit loved ones over Christmas. And no doubt that the MP’s who have enforced these ridiculous rules will be spending their Christmas holidays away from the city, in their million-pound Cotswold estate. Ironic to say the least.
