Coronavirus is likely to fundamentally change how we holiday, just as it has affected every aspect of our lives

Travelling enriches our lives and adds to mental wellbeing – so it must be allowed to continue, writes Janet Street-Porter

Trips to places like New York may prove less of a pull over the coming months (Reuters)

This is a bank holiday weekend, but thanks to the last six weeks of the coronavirus lockdown, it doesn’t feel like it. Early in lockdown, I was in denial about a longed-for holiday in Italy next month. As the death toll rose, cancellation became the only option.

When the villa company refused a refund, I was forced to rebook the same house for next year. But will I still want to go? Thousands of you will be in the same situation – as lockdown is gradually lifted, does a summer holiday seem a dumb idea?

Not only has the virus produced extraordinarily high levels of fear and anxiety in the UK, it’s changed the balance between work and leisure. A poll this week indicated that almost three-quarters of us think that people should be able to refuse to go back to work if they don’t feel safe, and two-thirds think that parents should not be fined for keeping their children out of schools when they re-open.

As lockdown is gradually eased, thousands of people will be made redundant, and a large proportion will decide that work is an unattractive option. They might be older, they might have health issues, or they might just prefer not to place themselves in an environment that doesn’t feel safe. All of this will have an impact on what kind of holidays (if any) we take in the future.

As Covid-19 will never be eliminated worldwide without a widely available cheap vaccine, does this spell the end of the traditional summer holiday? Coronavirus has resulted in huge losses for the travel industry, and new research from Brazil – which has not yet been peer-reviewed – seems to indicate that countries with the most international air travel (the USA, China and Britain) have seen the highest number of fatalities. The UK still allows international flights to land every day without compulsory testing or quarantine. Why have we maintained open borders, when other countries with less fatalities closed up?

No matter what “baby steps” are taken during the next couple of weeks to ease restrictions, the government is adamant that social distancing will be the norm. The boss of Heathrow has said if that is to be maintained on flights, then ticket prices will have to double. Many airlines and holiday providers are facing bankruptcy and appealing for government bailouts – but will the demand still be there when the world recovers from the peak of the pandemic?

Cost aside, are travellers mentally resilient enough to face passing through an airport, queueing for security checks and passport control? Will all travel require health passports, which might preclude older people, and those of all ages with health conditions, from travelling in the future?

As Boris Johnson and co dither about whether we can be trusted to go to garden centres and buy tomato plants safely, the Spanish resorts on the Costa del Sol and the Costa Brava are preparing to open on 8 June – will they manage to keep sun worshippers at a sensible distance?

A difficult task, given that Benidorm’s two main beaches attract between 15,000 to 25,000 during high season. The first visitors to Spain will be German and Austrian, but when plucky Brits are finally allowed to travel will these traditional destinations still appeal? How many of us will decide it’s worth the risk if we can get a tan and cheap sangria?

And what about holidays closer to home? If (as rumoured) we will only be allowed to buy booze in beer gardens, if restaurants, bars and pubs are not going to open until the end of August, that’s a huge swathe of traditional summer recreation snuffed out. Not to mention sporting events and music festivals. Are we condemned to day trips with takeaways and picnics? Will hotels, caravan and camping sites be allowed to reopen soon? And with what kind of restrictions?

The old idea of the two-week summer break was already in decline. Originally, factory workers all went away at the same time when their workplaces closed – but that’s not true for the majority of workers in the gig economy. There’s been a huge rise in year-round mini-breaks (involving more air travel) as well as holidays in the UK, where food and accommodation costs can be higher than abroad. As the economy is expected to go through the worst crisis since records began, how many will have the cash for anything as non-essential as a holiday?

If we decide to remain at home, and Johnson allows “non-essential” travel, not to shops or workplaces, but for leisure – where will visitors be welcome? In Scotland and Wales, both governments seem even more cautious than in England, and in remote areas of the UK visitors are regarded as a threat, not a commercial opportunity (and in some cases, a necessity). I had hoped to visit the remote region of Sutherland for some fishing and walking this September, but will Scotland be open for business?

People have lost so much income – particularly freelancers, who don’t qualify for government handouts, and workers who were in the process of starting new jobs and don’t qualify for furlough cash. With mounting debts, planning a holiday seems an unneeded expenditure.

For me, exploring new places has been an enriching and rewarding experience. Now, I can’t bear the thought that – for the forseeable future – it’s not going to be possible without a secret feeling of dread. I blame Johnson and co for fostering this disproportionate feeling of all-encompassing anxiety, that according to one government scientific adviser – Professor Robert Dingwall – has “effectively terrorised the public into thinking that this [Covid-19] is a disease which is going to kill you”. He says that there is ample scientific evidence that outdoor transmission of the virus is “negligible”: if that’s the case, why are we still being cowed into submission?

What exactly is the scientific evidence which ministers say they are relying on to keep us “safe”? We may not be able to afford to travel over the coming months, but we’re adults capable of making our own risk assessment. Travel restores our spirits and keeps us happy, it’s as “essential” as those tomato plants.