Folke Blechingberg is over 70 years old and wants to cancel his trip because he is worried about suffering from covid-19. But the travel company does not want to refund the booking fee because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not advise against travel to Spain.

Hans Remvig is a travel and tourism analyst at the company Resurs för resor og turism. He says that clarity from the authorities is the solution.

- If the Swedish Public Health Agency said that people over 70 should not go abroad, then it would be clear. Then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would follow it, he says and continues:

- The insurances would also not apply to travel for that group, which would lead to not going.

12.8 million trips abroad in a normal year

Hans Remvig says that approximately 12.8 million trips abroad are made from Sweden in a normal year and that just over 17 percent of these trips are made by people who are 70 years and older. 

- The processes in the decision-making bodies should be speeded up, in this case it seems to be both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and FHM.

When SVT asks the Swedish Public Health Agency and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the question of travel restrictions for people over 70 between the authorities bounces. FHM says that they are clear in their recommendations. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs says that they issue the travel advice due to infection at the request of FHM.

The airlines are struggling

It is also not easy for smaller tour operators to repay the money to the customers without relating to how their partners handle the issue.

- In this case, if it is a flight, it is probably the airline that does not pay back to the travel company and then the consumer does not get the money back either, says Hans Remvig.

The question has not yet been tried

A similar matter has been raised by the General Complaints Board, but the question of FHM's recommendations for certain age groups not to travel has not yet been raised against the Package Travel Act. Judge Marcus Isgren is head of ARN. He says he can not comment on individual cases, but:

- We have not tried the question, if you take it up as a matter, we will see. The Package Travel Act is fairly new, so there is a lot that has not been tried. This is also an extremely unusual exception where it should be applied, he says to SVT.