COVID-19: As UK removes South Africa from Red list, travel bookings witness dramatic surge

South African travel agencies are witnessing a spike in bookings ahead of the country being removed from the UK's COVID Red list, according to a report by the Associated Press. Many companies said that they were overwhelmed by the number of South African residents demanding reservations to travel to and from Britain. Flight Centre, which is the country's largest travel retailer, said that it was “struggling to cope” with the astronomical demand. 

“The minute the announcement came through we could see on our online booking tools as well as our email inquiries and telephone calls this morning that there was a big surge," Andrew Stark, Flight Centre Travel Group managing director, told AP.  “We see this as most source markets open up, the following day we are inundated, we just cannot keep up with the demand, to be honest," he added labelling the situation as ‘pretty maniac”. 

Meanwhile, Rosemary Anderson, chairwoman of hospitality association FEDHASA reckoned that she was also witnessing a skyrocketing surge in people who want to travel in and out of South Africa. One major reason for the Britons to head to South Africa, she said, was the weather. “We are going into summer, the UK is going towards autumn and many British people have not been able to travel to sunny places, so that makes South Africa a great destination for them,” Anderson was quoted as saying by AP.

South Africa has seen a considerable fall in coronavirus caseload with 33,013 cases currently active in the country. Notably, the British administration had attracted considerable flak for its decision to keep the country in the red list while lifting restrictions from others. 

UK modifies Red List

The British administration recently announced that starting 11 October, the number of countries in the red list will be cut down from 54 to just 7. Major tourist destinations like South Africa, Brazil and Mexico would be removed from the list. Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela continue in the red list. Last month, the UK simplified its travel rules by nixing the amber list from its travel rules. 

(Image: AP)

(With inputs from AP )