Britain Easing Travel Rules for Canadians, Other Visitors

Britain Easing Travel Rules for Canadians, Other Visitors

September 18, 2021 ctn_admin

Britain is making it easier for fully vaccinated Canadians, Americans and others to visit one of the world’s most popular countries.

As of October 4, England will ease many international travel restrictions, including quarantine requirements and testing rules, but only for fully vaccinated travellers from the U.K. and a select list of countries that includes Canada, the Globe and Mail reports.

All travellers from those select countries will no longer need a COVID-19 test before they return to England. They’ll have to take a PCR test two days after their arrival for now, but at the end of October the policy will be replaced with a requirement for a less-expensive lateral-flow test.

An emailed statement from the national tourism agency VisitBritain to USA Today said that while the red list remains under review, there is no indication that the U.S. will move to the red list by Oct. 4.

The British government hopes the move will kick start a solid fall tourism season.

The changes are only for England as of now, but experts believe Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland won’t be far behind. That’s good for news for lovers of Britain or for folks with family or friends in the UK.

Reuters reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson “has faced months of pressure to ease the restrictions. Airlines and travel companies blamed the testing and complicated rules for the slowness of a recovery in air travel over the summer and warned that far-reaching changes were needed or more job losses would follow the 100,000 already lost.”

“The industry, already on its knees after 18 months of restrictions, is facing a cliff edge as a government furlough scheme ends later this month with winter approaching, when fewer people travel and businesses tend to make a loss,” Reuters said.

The Globe and Mail reports that the British government “is also dropping its ‘traffic light’ system, which ranked countries according to their level of disease. Instead, as of next week the government will only keep a list of 54 “red list” countries, including Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Only British travellers can enter the U.K. from nations on the red list, and they must still quarantine for 11 nights in a hotel” at a cost of roughly $4,000 CAD.