Saga trade chief ‘confident’ of May restart with vaccination policy

The over-50s specialist wrote to clients this week informing them they must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 at least 14 days before their trip.

Saga’s new vessel Spirit of Adventure is slated to launch on 4 May with sister ship Spirit of Discovery due to resume sailing the following month.

Iain Powell, Saga’s head of trade sales, told TTG the company “had been working closely with government” and had created the policy based around the UK’s Covid vaccination plan.

“We’re really, really confident about [restarting in May]. We wouldn’t have built in the timeline and brought in the policy if we weren’t.”

Powell said that alongside Saga’s Covid protocols – which saw the company awarded Shield+ accreditation maritime safety expert Lloyd’s in November – the mandatory vaccination element was “the last piece of the puzzle”.

“The customer response has been really fantastic so we know it’s the right thing to do and we hope to see that pent-up demand for the bookings customers have told us they want to make [once they and other passengers are vaccinated].”