Warning Over New UK Travel Announcement

TRAVEL officials and MPs are warning of confusion over the UK government’s plans for a travel green list if it is not in line with advice from the Foreign Office.

MPs and travel operators in the UK are reportedly warning the government will spark confusion if their travel green list conflicts with Foreign Office travel advice.

According to the Express newspaper, fears have been raised that holidaymakers could still face trouble if they want to visit a green list country once the UK government announces its list of countries for travel if the Foreign Office separately advises against travel to the destination.

The government is expected to announce its traffic light programme for foreign travel, with travellers able to visit destinations on the green list without quarantine.

Meanwhile, holidays to amber countries will require returning travellers to quarantine at home for 10 days, while anyone coming back from a red list country will have to pay for a Government-backed quarantine hotel.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said the Foreign Office advice on travel, “should only be in place for destinations where the risk to travellers is unacceptably high.”

He added: “Green and amber countries should not be caught up in additional travel advisories as it will cause complexity for customers and impact how many people will be able to travel overseas this summer.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “The Global Travel Taskforce report sets out how, when the time is right, we will be able to restart international travel safely while managing variants of concern.

“We will continue to work closely with the travel industry on implementing its recommendations and will set out further details in advance of May 17.”

The news comes as Spain announced it will offer vaccine passports in June in an effort to improve tourism this summer.