Business owners in the hospitality industry have said that greater clarity is needed with regards to ‘tourist quarantine’ and serving international tourists who may not have self-isolated for two weeks after arriving in the country.
Passengers arriving into Ireland by air or sea are legally required to fill in a passenger locator form under the current Covid-19 measures. Also strongly encouraged to self-isolate for a period of two weeks, quarantining is not mandatory and concerns have been raised that people landing in Ireland are not heeding government advice on the matter.
Speaking to RTE News, Janet Kavanagh, owner of E-Whizz Bike Tours in Kilfenora Co Clare, told of how she had to cancel a customer’s booking after learning that the group had not self-isolated upon entering Ireland.
“They were from the US so I asked them had they done their 14 days quarantine. So I had to cancel the booking and arrange a refund for them. So what worries me is that people are coming into the country and they are not actually being fully informed.”
Had to cancel guests booked on guided tour today who just arrived from the US and didn’t think 14 days self isolation was ‘mandatory’. I know we are in tourism but I’m just not willing to risk it for staff and other guests. These people are in the country and socialising
— E-Whizz (@e_whizz) July 12, 2020
This follows a number of other incidents around the country where businesses have found themselves in difficult situations, with one Galway restaurateur describing an incident that made his staff “very uncomfortable”. You can read more on that here.
Header image via Shutterstock/Dublin Airport Oct. ’17
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