Consumer confidence is everything for the UK travel trade and these new hotel quarantines – necessary as they are in the fight against mutant Covid strains – are going to dent it.
So it’s absolutely crucial that the Government does not allow this strategy to remain open-ended.
Britain’s holiday and aviation industries are in a desperately parlous state and need to know the timeline for a clear exit route, so they can make plans.
Likewise, the public needs solid assurance from Downing Street that it will do everything possible to allow summer holidays to go ahead safely - once the vaccination programme has kicked in - and they can book with confidence.
What really does not help are TV news appearances from junior ministers saying ‘don’t book a summer holiday’.
We are still in the depths of winter and there are many secure, flexible booking options available for the peak season.
Why make unnecessary blanket statements that simply trample all over that consumer confidence?
The Prime Minister is quite right to stress that holidays abroad now are non-essential.
We all know the stories of that smug 'friend of a friend' who has sneaked off on holiday abroad during the latest lockdown, under the guise of an ''essential business trip'', and have seen Instagram 'stars' swanning about in the sunshine on social media.
So any selfish Covid rule-breakers who manage to blag a fake work jaunt must now pay the consequences of risking bringing any new strains (or even the original virus) back to Britain: head directly to Hotel Quarantine for 10 days, do not pass Go. Put War and Peace on your Kindle.
It's an inconvenience for genuine business trippers who can't use Zoom, but an essential weapon in the war on this hideous virus.
There is a once-in-a century deadly pandemic out there and, while we are hopefully heading for the end game of this crisis which has now cost us a truly appalling 100,000 lives, we are not out of the woods yet.
But Mr Johnson should also stop the scaremongering telly soundbites, commit to immediate financial support for the beleaguered UK travel industry (which employs tens of thousands of people and normally pours billions into the economy) and make it clear how and when these quarantines will be phased out.
Just like the public’s vaccines, the travel trade needs a shot in the arm as soon as possible - or there might not be much left to take us away in the summer.
