The UK government’s review of the traffic-light system has been called “a leap forward in the return of safe international travel” by some but others say it demonstrates “a true lack of ambition” and is being decided in a "fly-by-night" manner.
The changes announced last night will mean doubly jabbed arrivals from France will be able to enter the UK without
quarantine while all travellers from an expanded green list of countries will also skip the need to self-isolate.
Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel
Association, said, “The introduction of more countries to the green and amber lists is a
leap forward in the return of safe international travel."
He added, “The government has taken the right and
strong decisions in abandoning plans for watchlists and removing France’s
unique amber plus status. These were potentially calamitous moves which would
have jeopardised the future of the whole travel and aviation supply chains.”
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of the Advantage Travel
Partnership, said, “The latest traffic light review shows a true lack of
ambition by the government in not opening the green list further. The summer
has already been lost and any attempt to save summer is over. The removal of
France from the newly created amber plus list is of course a positive step but
arguably it should never have been put into its own special category in the
first place.”
Steve Norris, managing director EMEA for Flight Centre Corporate, said “This is the most important announcement for business travel since the pandemic began. For the hundreds and thousands of UK businesses that actively trade and rely on in-person collaboration with counterparts in Germany and United Arab Emirates, the recent shifts in the UK’s travel watch list will give them a much-needed boost in confidence.
"Germany is Flight Centre Corporate’s number one European destination for UK business travellers, and second worldwide after the US. In 2019, Flight Centre Corporate arranged 55,200 business trips between the UK and Germany, more than £7.7m in total spend. Our internal data shows that while 34,300 of these trips were carried out by large multinational organisations, over 20,000 trips were taken by small and medium enterprises in the UK who will now be desperate to get their businesses back up and running after a difficult 18 months. Flight Centre Corporate also recorded an equivalent of £6.3m in spend from business travellers between the UK and UAE in 2019."
Andrew Crawley, American Express Global Business
Travel’s chief commercial officer, said: “The addition of seven countries to
the UK’s green list and the removal of France from the amber plus list gives us
some more momentum. Simplifying the traffic light system will give travellers
more confidence and help expedite the safe return of international travel.”
Jason Oshiokpekhai, managing director of Global Travel Collection (GTC), said, "Why does the travel industry still not have full visibility of the data being used to drive decision-making? These announcements are little more than a lottery. Even decisions such as increasing the price of hotel quarantine by more than 30 per cent must be justified in full. Many red destinations are still vital for business travellers who deserve to understand what has caused these costs to increase – particularly when it has been widely reported that genome sequencing for red country arrivals is declining at a staggering rate.
“The announcement really was delivered in fly-by-night style – not least because it was presented via Twitter at 10pm the night before it was due. The only certainty the industry has is that travel guidance is clearly being made up as we go along and this must stop.”
Sean Doyle, British Airways' chairman and CEO said:
"We welcome more low-risk countries being added to the green list but urge
the government to go further, end uncertainty and allow people to benefit from
our world-leading vaccination programme. The UK's economic recovery is reliant
on a thriving travel sector and right now we're lagging behind Europe, with our
more stringent testing requirements and a red list significantly broader than
our European peers."
The government’s partial reopening of travel from the
Middle East has been welcomed.
BTA’s Clive Wratten said, “The opening of routes
into the Middle East is of particular significance for business travel. It will
take some time for business travel to return at scale, but this enables our
sector to contribute to UK GDP and the international trading reputation of our
country once more.”
Advantage’s Julia Lo Bue-Said added, “Moving the UAE
and Qatar – both of which are key international airport hubs particularly
important for business travel – to the amber list is welcomed but it’s
important to be mindful of all entry restrictions too.”
She said, “Outbound travel continues to be severely
restricted and the government continues to fall behind some of our European
counterparts who recognise the importance of opening up international travel
and allowing free movement of their vaccinated citizens. We have one of the
highest vaccination rollouts in the world and yet we remain one of the most
restricted when it comes to traveling internationally."
The moves will again bring pressure on the US
government to open its borders to UK and European travellers.
American Express GBT’s Crawley said, “While the UK
and the EU are making thoughtful decisions about travel, the Biden
administration must at least provide a timeline for the withdrawal of the
Presidential proclamation 212(f) that prevents Europeans from entering the US.
“A science-based and data-driven approach can
empower governments to ease travel restrictions whilst prioritising public
health. The US has banned travel from the UK and Europe for more than 500 days.
Every day 212(f) remains in place is another day that families remain
separated, vital trade routes remain severed and jobs are put at risk.”
GTC's Jason Oshiokpekhai said, “It is disappointing to see no information regarding progress of reopening the US to UK travellers. We need an update to understand what exactly the UK Government is doing to work with their counterparts in the US to ensure there are no further delays to reopening this route."
Virginia Messina, senior vice president and acting
CEO of the World Travel & Tourism
Council, said: “We call on the US government to open its
borders to fully vaccinated UK visitors, a move that would have a massive
economic benefit both here in the UK and across the Atlantic.”
She added, “The entire UK travel and tourism
sector, the many thousands of British travellers already in France, and those
with future plans, will be breathing a sigh of relief now that returning fully
jabbed Brits won’t need to quarantine, and that the confusing and disruptive
amber plus list has been effectively abandoned.”
Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA, highlighted the dire state of the travel industry in the UK.
He said, “The
government is still failing to capitalise fully on the success of the vaccine
rollout with a very cautious approach to the green list and failure to relax
restrictions on travel, including requirements for multiple tests even when
visiting low risk destinations. As a result, the UK is falling behind our
European competitors and the opening up of international travel from the UK is
progressing at a snail’s pace – making it extremely difficult for travel agents
and tour operators to generate enough income to kickstart a recovery, which is
desperately needed to protect jobs, businesses and livelihoods.
“We need to see a greater sense of urgency from
this government to both get people travelling again and support the industry
through this crisis. With furlough costs increasing for businesses this week,
the need for tailored financial support remains critical.
“Travel agents, tour operators and travel
management companies haven’t had access to the same level of grant support as
other industries yet their opportunity to trade their way out of the crisis
remains severely restricted by the government. The government also needs to be
transparent to the travelling public and the travel industry about the basis on
which these decisions are made.”