Christmas travel from the UK to large parts of Europe is being limited as more countries impose travel restrictions in an attempt to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.
Germany joined France in banning most travellers from Britain from Sunday evening, while Austria, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Ireland all require international arrivals to produce negative pre-departure tests.
Berlin's decision to only allow German citizens and residents to travel to Germany from the UK forced the cancellation of all river cruises.
The company had to cancel all of the sailings due to depart in December.
All impacted customers will be contacted in the departure date order to discuss their options.
Travelers who are permitted to enter Germany must stay at home for 14 days.
The Netherlands is locked down.
All non-essential businesses in the Netherlands were closed and there were strict restrictions on socializing for Christmas.
The European Union may consider imposing tests on travellers from outside the bloc, according to reports over the weekend.
Which? The sudden changes to restrictions for travel to Germany will cause chaos for people who want to visit family and friends this Christmas.
Other countries could still take measures at short notice, such as Germany banning UK tourists.
It is essential that people book with a provider that includes flexibility to rebook if it is impractical for their trip to go ahead, because there is no automatic right to a refunds if restrictions change overseas.
Jacques Damas, the head of Eurostar, was against the decision to close French borders.
He told The Telegraph that it was not helpful from the perspective of the Eurostar. It is difficult to endorse the business situation. Thousands of passengers have been let down with very short notice.
Customers are paying the price. All their Christmas plans are being canceled.
Ian Bell, head of travel and tourism at audit, tax and consulting firm RSM, predicted that the peak January booking season is likely to slip a month or two as consumers absorb the latest government requirements, and they await the fall out of the next review of travel testing measures in early January.
He said that this would lead to continued shorter lead times and the impact of reduced cashflow and forecasting uncertainty for travel businesses.
Atol is renewed.
The end of March is when operators need to demonstrate viability to renew Atol licenses, and sadly many won't be able to do this.
Many businesses will hit breaking point after a difficult trading period and no Government support since the furlough scheme ended. At the end of Q1 next year, there could be a wave of business distress.
The real fear is that a prominent travel brand entering administration and the repercussions of this across the wider sector on business closures, high unemployment and longer-term pressure on international connections at a time when the UK wants to be more outward focused following the referendum.
The UK government needs to acknowledge the effect policy changes are having on the travel sector and provide a suite of tailored measures to support travel businesses now.
Once measures are lifted, this will allow them the chance to bounce back.
Mike Tibbert, vice president of the Scottish Passenger Agents' Association, said it was like watching an approaching avalanche and being unable to outrun it.
Travel agents are working without income and on negative revenue as they have to do this work for no compensation and must pay credit card refunds as well. Travel agents don't get paid until their clients travel. No travel means no income.
When the Pandemic struck, members had to refunds a lot of their income, and travellers who booked a 2020 holiday were barred from travel.
