Some updates for the travel industry are already flooding social media, including some progress with additions to the green list, the scrapping of the amber watchlist idea, and some restrictions updates from both the British government and destination governments that will come into effect at 4 am on Sunday the 8th of August.
The news many consumers are most interested in is the updates to the green list. From amber, seven European destinations are being moved to the green list: Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania, and Norway. Updates on these destinations’ policies still need to be confirmed, but these are some fantastic, well-loved destinations to look forward to.
Updates to the amber list are also looking up. With France no longer being ‘Amber-Plus’ as the proportion of Beta variant cases has supposedly fallen and now having the same requirements as other amber destinations, including no need for quarantine for double vaccinated visitors.
Further updates for amber include The United Arab Emirates, India, Qatar, and Bahrain moving from red to amber. The UAE constitutes the seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al-Qaiwain, Fujairah, Ajman and Ra’s al-Khaimah. Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Ajman are particularly popular green list additions. Many are excitedly looking forward to bookings in Dubai, a worldwide loved destination. Spain is remaining on the amber list, and government advice for travel to Spain has been updated to urge consumers to take a PCR Covid test, “wherever possible, as a precaution against the increased prevalence of the virus and variants in the country.”
There have been a few moves to the red list, including Mexico, Georgia, and the islands of La Reunion. These have reportedly been moved to safeguard our vaccine rollout and protect against specific variants.
Unfortunately, this also comes with the news that travellers from red list countries will still have to do their 10-day hotel quarantine, with increased prices for these hotels.
In saying this, there are now no destinations on the ‘Amber-Plus’ list, though Spain has speculated joining France with quarantine requirements upon entry, though UK clinicians and scientists are in communication with Spain to “keep abreast of the latest data and picture of cases in Spain.”
While the government has chosen to scrap the amber watchlist, with Boris Johnson saying, “What I want to see is something that is as simple and as user-friendly for people as possible,” the green watchlist is still in action and regular updates and checks will be made.
“[We] will not hesitate to take action where a country’s epidemiological picture changes,” the government informed.
“While we must continue to be cautious, today’s changes reopen a range of different holiday destinations across the globe, which is good news for both the sector and travelling public,” said Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps on these new travel updates.
Shapps also clarified that there will be no further travel changes for another three weeks, to ensure that consumers can travel “without looking over their shoulders the whole time.”
Meanwhile, Portugal has decided to remove restrictions again any travellers with the AstraZeneca vaccine, allowing 5 million more UK travellers the opportunity to travel to Portugal without added quarantine.
“It emerged the Portuguese government had changed its mind and would recognise all AstraZeneca doses as well as the Chinese-made vaccine Sinovac.
“The U-turn is understood to have occurred after Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was urged to take action on his visit to Brazil by members of the Portuguese community who will benefit from the decision,” The Mirror reported on Wednesday.
There will be more travel updates to come throughout the day, but we highly encourage consumers to keep informed on the state of travel throughout the year. If you’d like to keep up to date on the green, amber, and red list destinations, you can visit the government website where all updates are made live as and when they are decided.
Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about how you are protected by the package travel regulations or your general consumer protection at PTS, don’t forget to check out our pages.
