As of yesterday, October 6th, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) have lifted their advice against 32 travel destinations. Now that the FCDO have lifted advice against these destinations, this means that travel insurance will begin to cover these countries again.
Lifting the advice based on the Covid rates in these countries and territories improving, the Foreign Office stated that this huge change would allow UK travellers to visit more destinations with “greater ease”.
Much of the travel industry is excited to see this change after the simplifying of the travel system (you can find out more about the new travel system in our article), as this change will remove conflicting restrictions and advice that might discourage travellers from visiting Rest of World countries.
“The update comes as part of a simplified system for international travel which has seen the replacement of the traffic light system with a single red list, and reduced testing requirements for eligible fully vaccinated travellers,” the FCDO statement read.
“The FCDO will no longer advise against travel to non-red list countries on Covid-19 grounds, except in exceptional circumstances such as if the local healthcare system is overwhelmed.
“Many travel insurance companies use FCDO travel advice as a reference point in their policies – typically excluding cover for places where government advises against essential travel, however people will now be able to purchase travel insurance for a wider range of destinations across the globe.
“Advice has been lifted in light of the improved public health in many countries and territories, better understanding of the virus and the decreased risk to British nationals as a result of the vaccine rollout.”
The FCDO has seen a lot of criticism from the travel industry and travellers about the conflicts of FCDO advice and travel restrictions, and this change is very welcome. The ability to travel with more ease has a lot of potential and will make the idea of travel less confusing and daunting for a lot of consumers.
The FCDO stated that more countries will have their FCDO advice removed in the coming days (you can check this on the Foreign Travel Advice page). As of October 7th, these are the countries that have had FCDO advice removed:
- Algeria
- Armenia
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Benin
- Comoros
- Tokelau & Niue
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Fiji
- Gambia
- Guinea
- Kazakhstan
- Kiribati
- Kosovo
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Malaysia
- Marshall Islands
- Micronesia
- Nauru
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Senegal
- Solomon Islands
- Togo
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Congo
- America Samoa
- French Polynesia
- Ghana
It is still important to check the entry requirements for your destination before you travel and during booking, but now that the FCDO have lifted advice against so many more destinations and intend only to advise against travel in “exceptional circumstances”, booking will be easier and more affordable for many travellers.
So, if you’re ready to book your next great getaway, don’t forget to get in contact with a travel business registered with PTS offering complete financial protection through our trust account. Or, if you’d like assistance picking one of the lovely travel businesses registered with PTS, you can contact PTS directly at 0207 190 9988.
And if you’d like to learn more about your consumer protection and how the package travel regulations protect your holiday booking, check out our pages.
