Lata annoyed Latin American nations still on red list

The Latin American Travel Association applauded the shrinking of the red list with several Latin American nations finally removed from next week.

However,  Danny Callaghan, CEO of the Latin American Travel Association finds it puzzling why the remaining  seven countries  still on  the  red list are all located in the LatAm region.

“We are pleased to see that a number of Latin American countries have finally been removed from the red list which will be a huge relief to our travel partners, many of whom are Latin American specialists and have not been able to trade at all for the last 18 months,” Callaghan said.

“However, it beggars belief that all the remaining seven countries on the red list are in, or off the coast of, Latin America. Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Panama are all way ahead of other countries that have come off the list in terms of case rates, vaccination and testing regimes.”

“I am at an utter loss to understand how this continued poor treatment of Latin American countries can be justified.”

He says it is too little, too late with travel industry jobs still at risk.

“These developments could very easily have been announced two weeks ago, before the end of furlough, and might well have saved jobs in our sector. The reality is nothing significant has happened in recent weeks to have changed the government position on restrictions. Instead, this poorly timed announcement shows how little value the government places on our industry.”

Callaghan says the government still isn’t being transparent regarding the data it relies on to make these decisions.

“I would also still like to see clarity from the UK Government on the criteria they use, particularly for the seven destinations left on the red list. Once again, we call for a clear and transparent explanation.”

Learn more about :   LATA ( United Kingdom )