Foreign holidays look likely to resume this month

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Foreign holidays look set to resume for eager British holidaymakers this month as the Government prepares to reveal the long-awaited international travel ‘green list’.

Ministers are poised to decide next week that foreign holidays can resume from May 17, the next stage at which restrictions ease under Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of Covid-19 lockdown.

But quarantine-free travel will only be possible to a ‘tiny handful’ of countries even if the blanket ban on travel is removed, with reports suggesting fewer than 24 destinations will initially be included.

Government sources yesterday stressed that no final decisions have been made on which countries will make the ‘green list’, though industry experts have predicted that the majority of European countries will remain ‘amber.’

Despite this, ministers are said to be confident about progressing to the next stage of the roadmap, which earmarks May 17 as the earliest date when international travel could resume.

They hope to move to a traffic light system with countries listed as either green, amber or red.

People travelling to ‘green’ countries will not need to quarantine on their return unless they test positive for coronavirus, while arrivals from ‘amber’ countries will need to quarantine for 10 days.

Travellers from ‘red list’ countries will be required to quarantine at a hotel at their own expense. Most European countries are expected to be on the ‘amber list’ when the categories are confirmed in the coming days.   

Countries expected to be on the ‘green list’ from May 17 include Portugal, Malta and Morocco.  

Industry experts have also predicted Israel, Jamaica, Barbados, Gibraltar and Grenada may be immediately open to holidaymakers after taking into account vaccine rates, infection rates, evidence of variants and data quality.  

They added that Iceland, Finland and the Cayman Islands could be among a 24-strong list of ‘green’ countries. It has been suggested this could also include the US. 

However, some nations will reportedly stay ‘amber’ due to growing fears over India’s Covid-19 crisis.  

Paul Charles, of the PC Agency, said: ‘We are concerned by possible #India-related infection increases in #Seychelles #SriLanka and #Maldives so these won’t be green on May 17.’ 

A Government insider told the Daily Telegraph that ministers believe they can ‘keep tight controls in place at the border while taking a significant step forward on international travel.’

However, it is expected that the system may be reviewed at the end of June ahead of the busiest period for holidays. By this time, it is hoped vaccinated Britons may be able to avoid quarantine entirely.

Those returning from ‘green list’ countries from May 17 may also be fast-tracked through passport control under plans proposed to combat queues at airports, the Times reported.

The Home Office is reportedly planning to re-open automated e-passport gates for those entering the UK from the lowest-risk nations. This is in a bid to prevent lengthy wait times, with Heathrow bosses warning passengers could be delayed for up to six hours.

Some airports have already created separate lines for ‘red list’ passengers, who need to quarantine in a hotel, but this could develop further into ‘green’ and ‘amber’ lines when international travel reopens to Britons.  

It comes as  the UK’s hugely-successful vaccine drive – coupled with social distancing rules – has meant just one in 1,000 people in England now have Covid, and the R rate is still below 1.    

Britain’s daily Covid deaths have fallen by nearly two thirds in a week as health chiefs recorded just 15 fatalities on Friday. Department of Health bosses also posted another 2,381 cases, with the outbreak remaining stable.

Last Friday there were 2,678 infections and 40 deaths reported. 

Another 610,000 vaccines were also dished out, with 14.5million Britons now fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

A number of criteria will be used to determine which category a country falls into when travel restrictions are loosened on May 17, including vaccination data and infection levels.

A source said: ‘We are keeping a tough border policy in place but if we think travel can be conducted safely with particular countries then we are looking to take the next step on the roadmap in that direction.’

The Global Travel Taskforce, which last month made recommendations on how travel could resume, has said the restrictions will be formally reviewed on June 28.

Further formal reviews would take place no later than July 31 and October 1, it said.

International holidays are currently prohibited, and passengers must prove they have a valid reason to leave the country.

The Commons’ Transport Select Committee issued a report last week which stated that the green, amber and red lists of destinations must be published by Saturday ‘at the latest’, but this has not happened.

Tory MP Huw Merriman, who chairs the committee, said the categorisation of countries is the bare minimum’ that the travel industry and consumers need to make preparations for May 17, and the lack of information means they are ‘still in the dark’.

He went on: ‘Uncertainty has been prolonged. This uncertainty could cost people their jobs.

‘How can it be right that countries with slower vaccination roll-outs are safely reopening to international travellers while the UK stays static?

‘The Government is in danger of squandering the opportunity to take advantage of the UK’s world-leading vaccine dividend as countries across the globe begin to open up for international travel.’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave an upbeat assessment of the easing of lockdown restrictions earlier this week.

‘As things stand I think we’ve got a very good chance of really opening up totally on June 21. But we’ve got to be cautious and go on the data, not the dates.’

He said that ‘nobody wants to go into a lockdown but they’ve helped us. The discipline the public has shown has helped us to get the numbers of cases down very considerably’.     

It has also been reported that Covid passports for summer holidays could be in place by June with UK-EU talks to resume travel set to start in days, officials have suggested.   

Vaccinated Brits with Covid passports could holiday in the US, France, Italy and Germany by June 28, it was revealed, though Greece insists the handwritten paper NHS card handed out with a jab will suffice. 

Spain also confirmed on Wednesday it was looking forward to welcoming back British holidaymakers and said June would be the start of the ‘recovery’ for tourism. 

The EU is closing in on a deal with the US for Covid passports, with officials also saying they are open to a similar policy with the UK. 

In response, a UK government spokesman said Britain was also ready to open talks with the EU shortly.

The spokesman said: ‘Ensuring free and open travel with our European partners is vitally important which is why we will be engaging the European Commission on reopening travel routes from the UK shortly.’ 

Revealing Spain was throwing open its beaches, tourism minister Fernando Valdes Verelst said: ‘June will be the start of the recovery of tourism in Spain. By then, we will have a digital vaccination certificate in place and we will be able to reopen our borders.’

He said Spain was pushing for the UK’s digital vaccine passport to be ‘mutually recognised’ and that he welcomed Boris Johnson’s plans to restart international travel. 

Speaking at the World Travel and Tourism Councilin Mexico, he added: ‘Because of the progress in our vaccine rollout with 22 per cent of our population having had their first dose already, we expect by June to be at the green light.

‘We are having close conversations with UK authorities and we are exchanging information on Spain’s digital system and the trial happening at our airports in May.’ 

Meanwhile, it was revealed UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will hold talks with G7 counterparts at the Cornwall summit between June 11 and 13 with a view to securing a free travel agreement to popular destinations.

Mr Shapps will argue that they should agree international standards for vaccinated travellers heading to ‘green list’ nations who show digital proof of vaccination, a negative test or proof of immunity at passport control.

There would also be talks on bilateral ‘travel corridors’ to the US, France, Italy, Germany and other nations for passengers with a covid passport, according to the Daily Telegraph.