It’ll be Costa del Donegal for a lot of us this summer as many of the county’s residents plan to take staycations over sunny getaways.
A travel poll by Donegal Daily has revealed that almost 90% of readers will not be travelling abroad in 2020.
The poll found that over 2,600 DD readers have ruled out foreign holidays this year, whereas 403 (13% of respondents) said they are planning to travel.
There’s no place like home for a lot of readers, who say they plan to stay local and support local. Respondents commented that health is more important than holidays at present, while others have cancelled dream holidays in favour of staying at home and exploring Ireland instead.
Some of the people who are choosing to travel said that they are doing so to visit family. Others said they will go on pre-booked holidays as they are unable to get a refund.
“Unfortunately we booked our holiday in December for Portugal in September this year, paid in full, and I know our flights won’t be cancelled…so I am going as we are booked into a private villa,” said one reader.
Another commenter said: “Cancelled a dream holiday this year. We love our summer trips and our ‘us’ time. But no, not this year. The dream holiday will wait. We have booked a few hotel breaks in Ireland and look forward to summer here this year. It’s so important to protect those around us just now.”
Meanwhile, the Irish government is set to extend Covid-19 related restrictions on international travel until at least the 20th of July. The requirement for people arriving in Ireland from abroad to quarantine for 14 days was due to be lifted on Thursday. The Cabinet is expected announce an extension of the time frame today amid growing anxiety over further spread of the virus.
The government has also delayed plans to publish a ‘green list’ of countries deemed safe for travel in Europe.