Both at home and abroad, their eyes are on the 189 Dutch trial tourists who fly to the Greek island of Rhodes on Monday afternoon. According to the director of travel organization Sunweb, Mattijs ten Brink, the all-inclusive holiday should provide “a wealth of information” for the travel industry about how we can soon enjoy a safe holiday again in corona time.
The tourists, chosen from no fewer than 25.000 registrations, will stay at the Hotel Mitsis Grand Beach for eight days and are not allowed to go outside the resort. The group has been composed with the help of a notary, in order to obtain a group that is as diverse as possible, in which all age classes occur. The holidaymakers have taken a PCR test and a rapid test before boarding the plane and must be quarantined upon return. During the holidays, they fill out surveys and two scientists analyze their behavior. “There is no intervention, it must be a natural situation to really build up knowledge,” explains the director of Transavia, Marcel de Nooijer.
Beppie Brander (56) and her daughter Celina Brander (20), ready for departure on Monday afternoon at the Transavia check-in desk at Schiphol, are looking forward to their holiday. To get to the 189 lucky ones, they had logged in with as many as four computers to sign up and they succeeded. Celina does an online internship and works from the resort during the day. "With a cocktail and food, and then relax." According to Beppie, the holiday will be different than usual. "Normally we rent a car and explore the country, now it is more of a relaxing holiday."
Corona safe vacation
According to De Nooijer and Ten Brink, the pilot holiday should provide information about how we can celebrate a corona-safe holiday this summer. “We want to know how we can improve our communication and actions to make the journey as safe and as pleasant as possible for tourists,” explains De Nooijer. Sunweb and Transavia have been permanent partners for years and want to do everything they can to make travel possible again after the disastrous corona year 2020. They also share the results with other players in the travel sector.
De Nooijer and Ten Brink assume that after 15 May the possibilities for holiday will be expanded. “We will then fly again to countries that have yellow or green travel advice. Better times are coming ”, expects De Nooijer.
Also read: Trial holiday to Rhodes with Sunweb and Transavia
