Snaptrip develops calculator for travel between UK covid tiers

Snaptrip develops calculator for travel between UK covid tiers

Snaptrip aims to avoid traveller confusion

A calculator for people to determine if they can travel between various tiered regions in the UK has been developed by holiday rental site Snaptrip.

The tool was created after a surge in tier travel related enquiries that now account for 15% of phone calls, in addition to Google trend search data that revealed a spike in searches related to travel between tiers in the first week of December.

UK residents can determine if they can go ahead with travel plans by entering their current location and destination. The tool will then tell them if they are allowed to travel between the two places and what the restrictions will be in the destination region.

Snaptrip discovered that interest for the phrase “Can I travel…” spiked between November 29 and December 4 as the government announced new Covid-19 restriction tiers that English residents found themselves in following the month-long November lockdown.

Different systems are in place across England, Wales and Scotland. England’s three-tier system is up for review next week. Scotland has a four-tier system, while Wales does not currently have a tiered system.

The eight different restriction levels result in 64 different possibilities for people when considering if they are allowed to travel to another region in the country.

Snaptrip co-founder and chief executive Matt Fox said: “The travel industry has faced major disruption throughout 2020, from the initial lockdown in March to the tiered lockdown we are in now with various setbacks along the way.

“After all this, we would hate for anyone to miss out on a trip because of tier confusion, or inadvertently go ahead with a trip they shouldn’t be going on.

“We thought that by creating this quick tool we would be giving everyone an easy way to determine whether they can go ahead with their plans or not with a few simple clicks, whether those plans involve visiting family or enjoying a remote and romantic winter getaway in the countryside.”