Rational decisions are actually based. I honestly thought I had messed up my days, surely it must be April Fool’s Day today when I read the headline.

“That can’t be right,” said the confused-looking journalist next to me to whom I had just shown the headline. “Try updating the page, it must be wrong,” she added. But no matter how often I’ve updated it same title stared at me – cafe and restaurant terraces are allowed to be open from Monday.

This logically challenging decision seems strange on a number of levels. It’s almost like there’s a choice just around the corner and logic has been thrown out the window – oh, wait, stupid me!

I mean, we had fewer than ten cases the day before and had a full lockdown, and yes, I know we can’t financially support ourselves for long, if at all, to shut everything down, but it’s the timing that is on my mind scratched.

Of the many reasons not to open up and possibly increase our daily case rates, I will focus on just one, although I had a wide choice.

Are you sitting comfortably, can I start? Tourism. The mainstay of our economy, on which the vast majority of people live, directly or indirectly. By far the largest percentage of our tourists come from my home country. You all saw what happened last year when the UK removed Croatia from the list of “safe corridor travel”. End of season.

And we all know the UK government put in their new travel restrictions for this summer. It will basically look like a traffic light system. Sure, and it doesn’t take a genius to make this happen, we don’t know what to put on the red list. All the indications suggest Croatia will be on the amber list, but nothing is set in stone yet. Needless to say, the difference between the red and amber lists for our travel industry is life or death.

How are the lists adhered to? You will consider factors such as the Covid infection rate, the prevalence of variants and the scope of vaccination programs. And with those traffic lights just announced, it is also clear that next month, with the travel ban in place until at least May 17th, the relevant UK government departments will review the numbers next month.

That is why this time is so incredibly important, as it is now. So I have a simple question. Do you think opening cafes and restaurants will lower our daily fall rate?

We already know the vaccination problem is there and I am being generous and not doing as well as I should. Wouldn’t sacrifice now make sense for the long-term health of our tourism industry?

It must also be mentioned that our potential target market of the British is considerably smaller than before. And here’s why. From our end onwards, Brits can enter Croatia if they meet one of four different points, three of which represent a PCR test and one relates to people who have already been vaccinated. And on the other end, even Brits returning home from a green country would have to do a pre-departure virus test and a PCR test the day after they return.

Individuals coming from countries with amber lists are required to take a test before leaving, home isolation for 10 days, and testing on days two and eight after their trip. That’s a lot of testing and, consequently, a lot of money. Imagine the price of testing for a family of four! Twice!

Or as Tim Alderslade, CEO of Airlines UK, put it quite bluntly: “Insisting on expensive and unnecessary PCR tests instead of quick tests – even for low risk countries – will put an unsustainable burden on passengers and travel will be unprofitable and make it unaffordable for many people. ”

Even if we’re a big “if” we’re on the green list and our potential market just got a lot smaller. If tourists are on the amber list, they must take a test before leaving, isolate at home for 10 days, and get tested on days two and eight after their trip. And the red list means quarantine for ten days in a hotel at your own expense.

The facts are as clear as on the Adriatic. And we have to react now or face the consequences.

And if you thought, “Oh, it doesn’t matter, we won’t improve until later and everything will be fine.” Then think about it again. According to the information published, it will not be easy to change your status and the restrictions for each level of the system will be checked for possible changes on June 28, July 31 and October 1.

If you are wrong now, you will have to wait some time to improve your position. I’m asking again. Will opening café bars and restaurants help us?

Continue reading English in Dubrovnik… Well, if you really want to

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