EES must not be another barrier to travel

Like many in our industry, the Travel Weekly team and I are fortunate to spend a lot of time overseas, covering and hosting industry events and exploring new products and destinations.

In recent weeks, those travels have meant more encounters with the EU’s Entry/Exit System, which as of last week is fully in operation. As you would expect, some experiences have been more positive than others, dependent on factors including time of day, the size of the airport and whether the requisite technology is actually ready. But what has been particularly noticeable during our office conversations is the lack of consistency in the processes we have been comparing.

My own EES experiences have been reasonable, but a lack of clarity during an initial automated assessment left me needlessly duplicating efforts and delaying my own trip and those waiting behind me.

Others have reported similar lack of clarity or direction, and it is this as much as the checks themselves that make it trickier for agents to fully prepare their customers for what to expect.

Industry associations and trade bodies continue to lobby for more consistency, particularly around contingency plans to alleviate disruption and staffing levels to ensure smooth operations, and we must all hope those pleas are heard and acted upon so EES can remain out of the national media headlines.

With the situation in the Middle East remaining perilous and volatile, and the knock-on effects continuing to be felt both operationally and in customer confidence, the last thing the trade needs is another barrier to booking for the summer season.

Comment originally from Travel Weekly, April 16 edition