Travel and tourism company TUI has cancelled all Lapland Holidays this winter for customers coming from the UK and Ireland, as they are concerned that they cannot guarantee to ‘keep the magic alive’ for visitors due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
1. TUI announces cancellation
The company announced that, ‘TUI UK and Ireland today regrets to confirm it has made the incredibly difficult decision to suspend holidays to Lapland this winter, due to the continued uncertainty surrounding travel and the unprecedented impact of Covid-19. Visiting Santa is a truly magical, once-in-a-lifetime family experience, and TUI has worked extremely hard in recent months to try to ensure it can keep the magic alive and guarantee children and their parents a safe and enjoyable holiday. However, with the rapidly evolving travel environment and a Covid test soon to be mandatory for Finland, TUI UK and Ireland has decided that, on this occasion, it would not be able to deliver on this promise and wanted to remove uncertainty for families.’
2. Next year’s trips will go ahead
TUI confirmed that they will resume trips to visit Santa in the Finnish region in winter 2021, and in the meantime all customers with cancelled holidays can choose one of three options; to rebook for next year, a receive a refund credit note with a ‘generous incentive’, or receive a cash refund.
3. Finland’s Lapland precautions
In response to the pandemic, Lapland has introduced several safety measures, such as plastic screens separating Santa from children, and face masks for elves. Meanwhile the Finnish government has announced that leisure travel from the UK will be allowed from November 23 but visitors will have to provide proof of a recent negative Covid-19 test. There will be no quarantine required for trips under 72 hours, however for longer stays visitors will need to self-isolate for 72 hours before taking a second test. A negative result in this second test will enable the quarantine to be ended.
