BookitList - Holiday bookings expected to soar after shake up of travel rules

Holiday bookings expected to soar after shake up of travel rules

The UK tourism industry is expected to see a significant upturn following the recent announcement that international travel rules will be relaxed and simplified in a major shakeup to the current system. In the 30 minutes immediately following the announcement on Sep 17, online flight booker Skyscanner reporting an unprecedented 133% increase in traffic


From October 4, the current 'travel light' system (which has come under heavy criticism since it was first implemented back in May) will be replaced by a single red list.


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Photo by Dorsa Masghati

The Maldives will soon be added to the Green List

UK travellers will have their options greatly expanded, with countries currently on the amber list automatically moved to green, along with eight 'red list' countries including Turkey, The Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Kenya.


Rules on red list countries will remain the same, with travellers returning from such destinations required to quarantine for 11 nights in a designated hotel at their own cost.


Travel testing requirements will also be simplified, with double jabbed holidaymakers no longer required to take a pre-departure test before returning to the UK (from non-red list countries). The government had also announced that the 'Day 2' PCR tests would be replaced by the significantly cheaper Lateral Flow tests, but have since delayed the move due to a shortage of such tests.


The new rules will come into place from October 4, and have been welcomed by leading figures from the travel industry: EasyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren called it "a step forward for our customers" and said it will be "significantly easier for the fully vaccinated to travel to Europe", whilst Thomas Cook described the changes as "a shot in the arm for the travel industry".

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