December 16th - What France's Decision On Travel From UK Means
Simon Calder's Independent Travel Podcast
The Independent
3.6 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2021
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
France has announced that travellers from the UK will no longer be allowed, unless the person is a French national. I look at what you can and can't do with the new directive and how the immediate future of travel looks as Omicron's wave of infections take hold across the world.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Simon Corder, welcoming you to my independent travel podcast, bringing you the latest news on traveling, whether you're just dreaming of a great escape, looking forward to one or actually away, and I hope having the time of your life. |
| 0:19.3 | Today, as you might hear, I'm actually on a plane but I'm not going to France. |
| 0:22.6 | However, I will be looking at the impact of the French travel ban on the UK and that will be |
| 0:29.6 | both for you and for the travel industry over the festive season and beyond. |
| 0:47.4 | We woke up this morning, or at least I did, to rumours that France was going to impose a very, very stringent travel ban on the UK because of concerns over the spread of the |
| 0:54.0 | Omicron variant, which as we know |
| 0:57.0 | is a tidal wave engulfing the UK. That's according to the Prime Minister. Well, the Prime Minister of France and the President, Emmanuel Macron, |
| 1:08.0 | decided that they didn't really want to be engulfed by the same tide of a wave, and so they have said that as from 11 p.m. British time, |
| 1:17.8 | tomorrow night, Friday, the 17th of December, until further notice, you will not be able to travel from the UK to the France unless you are in one |
| 1:30.3 | of several categories. Let me tell you what they are. So if you're a French citizen, then that's fine. |
| 1:36.1 | That's a good enough reason to go. If you're the spouse or the partner of a French citizen, |
| 1:40.5 | you can also go. If you're a resident, then you will be able to go but the rest |
| 1:46.0 | of us who maybe just wanted to go on holiday ski trip or city break or maybe actually |
| 1:53.2 | something even more enjoyable or something like Disneyland Paris wouldn't that be great |
| 1:59.5 | well we're not going to be going anywhere near France for the time being. |
| 2:05.6 | And of course, what's really significant is that here we are, what, nine days before Christmas, |
| 2:11.6 | 16 days before New Year, and that is absolutely the peak travel time to go to France really to go anywhere |
| 2:20.4 | over the winter and this is causing immense upset so what's it mean for you well you've got a |
| 2:27.1 | trip booked I imagine you're feeling quite cheesed off even if it's to go see loved ones |
| 2:31.8 | unless it's extreme circumstances such as a |
| 2:35.0 | God forbid a death in the family or a terminal prognosis then you are not going to be going |
| 2:43.0 | your travel your rights will depend on how you've organised your travel if it's a package holiday and lots of |
... |
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